Personal insolvencies remain stable

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) today released official statistics reporting personal and company insolvencies in Scotland for the second quarter of 2016-17. The figures show that personal insolvencies, which include both bankruptcies and protected trust deeds (PTDs), totalled 2,424.

There were 1,113 bankruptcies awarded during this quarter. This represents a 2.7 per cent decrease on the previous quarter and a 14.2 per cent increase as compared to the second quarter of 2015-16. However, the activity levels in the first and second quarters of 2015-16 were particularly low due to the legislative and operational changes introduced through Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 (BADA(S)) on 1 April 2015. A more realistic comparison is obtained by looking at previous years’ activity. The bankruptcies awarded in this quarter are 35.3 per cent lower than the same quarter in 2013-14 and 32.7 per cent lower than in 2014-15.

The number of PTDs remains stable this quarter. The number of PTDs rose 4.0 per cent from the previous quarter to 1,311.

There were 662 debt payment programmes (DPPs) approved under DAS. This represents 29.8 per cent more DPPs than the previous quarter. This is the highest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2014-15. A total of £9.2 million was repaid through DAS during this quarter. This is 0.6 per cent lower than the previous quarter.

The combined number of bankruptcies awarded, PTDs recorded and DAS DPPs approved remained stable in previous quarters. However, this quarter's figures are 5.9 per cent higher than the previous quarter.

The number of Scottish registered companies becoming insolvent or entering receivership has decreased in the second quarter of 2016-17, with 218 companies becoming insolvent. This is 15.5 per cent lower than the previous quarter. The number of members’ voluntary liquidations (solvent liquidations) decreased from 215 to 106.

The figures released today were produced by professionally independent statistical staff in accordance with the professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.