Chamber and committees

We are in regular contact with the UK Government. The UK Government has stated that it believes that increased regulation is not necessarily the best way to achieve a balance between the financial services industry and its customers, on a range of financial inclusion issues.

The most significant of our devolved powers are those relating to housing, and the provision of information and advice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16485 on 1 October 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk./webapp/wa.search.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy maintains the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland and publishes statistics on personal insolvencies in Scotland by financial year, in their annual report.

Details of the numbers of bankruptcies are not available by local authority area, but are recorded by Sheriffdoms as all petitions for bankruptcy, prior to 1 April 2008, were considered by the Scottish Courts.

Since 1 April 2008, whilst creditor petitions are still considered by the sheriff, the Accountant in Bankruptcy has responsibility for debtor applications and records all awards of bankruptcy by Sherrifdom area.

The following table provides the number of bankruptcies for the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08, and for the first quarter of 2008-09 (1 April to 30 June). There has been a significant increase in the number of people becoming bankrupt in Scotland in the first quarter of this financial year compared to previous years. This increase is due to the bankruptcy reforms contained in the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Act 2007.

Further information including the annual reports is available on the Accountant in Bankruptcy''s website at www.aib.gov.uk.

Number of Awards of Bankruptcy by Sheriffdom and Sheriff Court

Sheriffdom (Sheriff Court)	2006-07	2007-08	April to June 2008
Tayside, Central and Fife
Awarded by the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB)			540
Alloa	69	65	4
Arbroath	54	51	4
Cupar	65	100	6
Dundee	429	453	105
Dunfermline	191	259	22
Falkirk	231	202	20
Forfar	45	38	4
Kirkcaldy	247	217	17
Perth	170	185	11
Stirling	75	69	8
Total awards for Sheriffdom	1,576	1,639	741
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
Awarded by AiB			428
Airdrie	313	274	30
Ayr	147	158	10
Dumfries	85	110	4
Hamilton	408	421	57
Kirkcudbright	34	35	1
Lanark	64	59	7
Stranraer	39	35	0
Total awards for Sheriffdom	1090	1092	537
North Strathclyde
Awarded by AiB			231
Campbeltown	22	19	2
Dumbarton	176	186	10
Dunoon	22	27	7
Greenock	82	90	8
Kilmarnock	247	243	30
Oban	22	18	4
Paisley	162	281	25
Rothesay	7	10	1
Total awards for Sheriffdom	740	874	318
Grampian, Highland and Islands
Awarded by AiB	252	247	364
Aberdeen	16	22	31
Banff	32	23	4
Dingwall	3	6	0
Dornoch	106	98	0
Elgin	28	23	5
Fort William	92	86	0
Inverness	20	13	16
Kirkwall	12	5	1
Lerwick	4	10	2
Lochmaddy	76	57	0
Peterhead	22	14	15
Portree	36	39	0
Stonehaven	18	21	2
Stornoway	22	12	2
Tain	14	10	3
Wick			0
Total awards for Sheriffdom	753	686	445
Lothian and Borders
Awarded by AiB			329
Duns	19	21	1
Edinburgh	467	533	56
Haddington	117	136	36
Jedburgh	27	23	0
Linlithgow	184	163	26
Peebles	18	9	3
Selkirk	34	35	1
Total awards for Sheriffdom	866	920	452
Glasgow and Strathkelvin
Awarded by AiB			276
Glasgow	860	947	84
Total awards for Sheriffdom	860	947	360
Total Awards for Scotland	5,885	6,158	2,853

Source: Accountant in Bankruptcy.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) defines sub-prime mortgages as those targeted at consumers with impaired or low credit ratings who may find it difficult to obtain finance from traditional sources.

Data are available for those with impaired credit ratings but not for those with low credit ratings. For Scotland as a whole, in the period April 2005 to June 2008, the FSA found that 21,130 mortgages arranged in Scotland were in cases where the main, second or other borrower had an impaired credit history. This represents 3.4% of the total number of mortgages (630,334) issued in Scotland over this period.

Similar figures have been calculated for local authority areas. The proportion of mortgages to borrowers with impaired credit histories ranges from 1.4% (in Shetland) to 4.4% (in North Lanarkshire).

Local Authority	Not Impaired	Impaired Credit History	Total	Impaired (as % of Total)
Aberdeen City	26,441	712	27,153	2.6%
Aberdeenshire	25,361	686	26,047	2.6%
Angus	11,838	377	12,215	3.1%
Argyll and Bute	10,999	395	11,394	3.5%
Clackmannanshire	6,405	239	6,644	3.6%
Dumfries and Galloway	12,307	410	12,717	3.2%
Dundee City	16,477	526	17,002	3.1%
East Ayrshire	13,549	615	14,163	4.3%
East Dunbartonshire	10,882	394	11,276	3.5%
East Lothian	12,209	340	12,549	2.7%
East Renfrewshire	9,112	330	9,441	3.5%
City of Edinburgh	65,991	1,840	67,831	2.7%
Eilean Siar	1,674	35	1,709	2.0%
Falkirk	19,246	697	19,943	3.5%
Fife	44,151	1,743	45,894	3.8%
Glasgow City	74,447	2,694	77,141	3.5%
Highland	22,342	623	22,965	2.7%
Inverclyde	9,020	323	9,343	3.5%
Midlothian	9,791	273	10,064	2.7%
Moray	9,345	260	9,605	2.7%
North Ayrshire	16,184	732	16,916	4.3%
North Lanarkshire	39,309	1,791	41,101	4.4%
Orkney Islands	1,419	35	1,454	2.4%
Perth and Kinross	14,616	423	15,039	2.8%
Renfrewshire	19,360	693	20,053	3.5%
Scottish Borders	13,134	394	13,528	2.9%
Shetland	1,508	22	1,530	1.4%
South Ayrshire	13,216	600	13,816	4.3%
South Lanarkshire	36,685	1,563	38,248	4.1%
Stirling	10,592	393	10,985	3.6%
West Dunbartonshire	10,980	397	11,378	3.5%
West Lothian	20,613	577	21,190	2.7%
Scotland	609,204	21,130	630,334	3.4%

Source: FSA Product Sales Data, available at postcode area level for number of regulated mortgages (including remortgages) advanced on properties in Scotland from April 2005 to June 2008. Approximate mapping to local authority level done by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government would discourage borrowers from taking on unsustainable mortgage commitments and to seek help from their lender if they are having trouble repaying their mortgage.

The information requested is not held centrally.

We provide extensive support for money (debt) advice: through the local government settlement; by providing training and consultancy to help advisors deal with more complex cases; by helping fund National Debtline (a UK service) to ensure that advisors are aware of differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK, in particular, the legal side of debt problems (diligence and sequestration), and by funding Citizens Advice Direct, which provides advice by telephone and email rather than the traditional face-to-face model of bureaux, to progressively increase its coverage from its beginnings in Glasgow to the whole of Scotland.

We have announced a specific package of support for home owners in difficulty.

This information is not held centrally.

This information is not held centrally.

This information is not held centrally.

In partnership with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise supports Business Mentoring Scotland (BMS). The latest phase of BMS was launched on 20 August 2008. It aims to advise around 1,200 businesses per annum, across Scotland, including tourism-related businesses. This service provides three levels of support:

Online information and registration facilities

A series of group mentoring meetings across the network of local chambers to provide access to a wider pool of contacts and business knowledge and opportunities

One-to-one mentoring

Twenty tourism businesses have been supported by BMS so far this year. One hundred and sixteen tourism businesses were supported in 2007. Currently, 25 of the mentors have experience in tourism.