§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans his Department has to encourage insolvency practitioners to undertake the London approach with small businesses, allowing a company to work out an informal arrangement with creditors while being protected from them. [40542]
§ Mr. OppenheimMy Department has no such plans. I am keen to encourage the use of company rescue procedures, such as company voluntary arrangements and administration orders, wherever appropriate.
In April 1995, the Insolvency Service issued a consultative document on proposals for adding a 28-day moratorium on creditors' actions to the existing company voluntary arrangement procedure. It would give a company in financial difficulty a breathing space to put rescue proposals to creditors and was developed with the small company particularly in mind.