§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what factors governed those interests represented on the sponsored Insolvency Regulation Working Party. [31233]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsThe Insolvency Regulation Working Party was established by the insolvency recognised professional bodies and The Insolvency Service and its members are representatives of them.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list(a) the number of complaints per annum received by each of the bodies responsible for regulating insolvency practitioners, (b) the nature of the complaints, (c) the average and the longest time taken to investigate the complaints and (d) the nature of the outcomes in each of the last five years. [31200]
458W
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsThe number of complaints about insolvency practitioners received by each of the bodies for the period in question are in the table.
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 272 263 246 325 319 Insolvency Practitioners Association 166 161 160 115 120 Law Society 1 7 3 3 0 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland 12 47 39 18 11 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 5 23 38 41 30 Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland 4 2 0 2 9 The Law Society of Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 Secretary of State 72 84 81 36 45 Total 532 587 567 540 534 Information about the nature of the complaints, the average and longest time taken to investigate the complaints and the nature of the outcome is either not available or could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Regulatory action was taken by the professional bodies in appropriate cases but the majority of complaints, after investigation, revealed no evidence of misconduct.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many(a) firms and (b) individuals are registered with each of the bodies responsible for authorising insolvency practitioners under the Insolvency Act 1986. [31234]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsOnly individuals may be authorised to act as insolvency practitioners. The numbers authorised by each of the bodies are as follows:
Number Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 844 Insolvency Practitioners Association 308 Law Society 184 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland 168 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 127 Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland 73 The Law Society of Scotland 22 Secretary of State 125 These figures will be published in the next Insolvency Service Annual Report.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals she has for requiring those licensed under the Insolvency Act 1986 to publish information about their affairs. [31339]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsNone at this stage. However, I will give careful consideration to any submissions that my hon. Friend may wish to make about this matter.