§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many bankruptcy orders were made in each region in the last 10 years. [9267]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe information is given in the table.
769WThe Insolvency Act 1986 introduced a number of changes which streamlined overall procedures. For individuals, the terms under which one can seek bankruptcy were made more lenient and many discharges were made automatic after three years. The total number of insolvencies must be considered in the context of about 3.6 million UK businesses in total and a start-up rate of about 400,000 new businesses per year. Since 1986, the number of UK enterprises has increased by over 12 per cent. and the number of self-employed by 21 per cent., concentrated mainly in the earlier years.