HC Deb 27 November 2003 vol 415 c448W
Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much revenue has been generated by the Insolvency Service in each year since 1997; and what the cost of administering the Insolvency Service has been(a) in each year since 1997 and (b) in each quarter of 2003. [143142]

Mr. Sutcliffe

The Income and Expenditure of the Insolvency Service as reported in its Annual Report and Accounts since 1997 was:

£000
Income from fees Investment income Expenditure
1997–98 37,495 50,980 78,538
1998–99 41,935 47,500 78,159
1999–2000 45,341 43,400 80,512
2000–01 51,270 45,100 80,314
2001–02 52,260 39,400 81,840
2002–03 58,674 34,800 90,332

Investment Income derived from the Insolvency Services Investment Account was surrendered to the Consolidated fund in accordance with Section 405 of The Insolvency Act 1986. 2003–04 is the last year of this funding regime. A new financial regime will be introduced on 1 April 2004 under the Enterprise Act 2002. Under the new financial regime investment income will be paid to creditors and The Insolvency service will seek to cover its case administration costs in full through a revised fees structure.

In year financial monitoring and management control information is being produced monthly. These unaudited figures are not directly comparable with previous years as they include the costs and income of the Redundancy Payments Service together with estimates of non-cash and other charges that can only be known at year-end.