Bankruptcy Fees (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (SSI 2018/127)
Agenda item 3 is consideration of the Bankruptcy Fees (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (SSI 2018/127). The committee will recall that we wrote to the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy outlining our concerns about the 2017 regulations, and that instrument was subsequently withdrawn. Our general concerns at that time were the lack of transparent, consistent and understandable processes for setting fees, clarity over the extent of cost recovery and the impact of fee increases on stakeholders.
We have now received views on the 2018 iteration of the regulations from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Alan McIntosh and Money Advice Scotland. It might be worth noting that the current regulations will not take forward a number of the fee increases that had been proposed in the 2017 regulations. The bankruptcy fees that are charged to debtors will not change and there will be an increase in the fee that is charged to a creditor to apply for a debtor’s bankruptcy. In brief, the Accountant in Bankruptcy has gone some way to addressing the committee’s concerns about the 2017 regulations.
Does any member have any substantive issues that they wish to raise on the regulations? I am not hearing any comments from members, so are we content for the instrument to come into force?
Members indicated agreement.
As we agreed at our previous meeting, we will also draft a response to the minister, and we will consider that in private.
10:59 Meeting continued in private until 11:50.Previous
Scotland’s Economic Performance