An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.
The number of individual Scots made bankrupt is now at its lowest level since April 2008.
Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) today released official statistics reporting personal and company insolvencies in Scotland for the second quarter of 2014-15. The figures show that personal insolvencies, which include both bankruptcies and protected trust deeds (PTDs), fell by 12.5 per cent on the same period of the previous year. A total of 2,991 were recorded during this period.
There were 1,654 awards of bankruptcy this quarter, down 5.8 per cent on the previous quarter and 3.9 per cent on the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This represents the lowest number of bankruptcies awarded since the fourth quarter of 2007-08, the last quarter before access to bankruptcy was widened by the introduction of the Low Income Low Asset (LILA) route.
The number of PTDs recorded increased to 1,337, a 10.3 per cent increase on the previous quarter. However this total was 21.2 per cent lower than the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The number choosing to enter the statutory debt management solution, the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS), decreased as 1,156 cases were approved, down 8.3 per cent from the previous quarter and down 1.2 per cent on the same period of the previous year. A total of £9.4 million was repaid through this Scheme in the second quarter of 2014-15.
The overall demand for statutory debt solutions in Scotland continues to decline. The combined number of bankruptcies awarded, PTDs registered and DAS applications approved totalled 4,147 this quarter which is 9.6 per cent lower than the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The number of Scottish registered companies becoming insolvent or entering receivership decreased by 16.4 per cent from the last quarter. This quarter’s total was also 22.0 per cent lower than the same quarter of the previous year.
The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
