Money
788.The current financial regime of The Insolvency Service comprises numerous fees (see the Insolvency Fees Order 1986) covering case administration and a Secretary of State Fee, none of which achieves full cost recovery of activities undertaken by The Service. In addition, because of the low rate of interest set for estate balances invested in the Insolvency Services Investment Account, the amount returned to estates is considerably less than the level of investment income received by the account. The excess income is currently paid into the Consolidated Fund and amounted to some £43 million in 2000-01.
789.The Government has announced its intention to reform the regime to make it simpler and more transparent. It is also proposed to make the regime fairer to creditors, for example by returning to insolvent estates those investment returns that currently flow into the Consolidated Fund. The majority of the changes necessary to achieve reform will be made by using existing powers and changes to secondary legislation and Rules. However, there are two specific areas that require primary legislation, and provisions for these are included in the Act.
Section 270: Fees
790.Section 270subsection (1) inserts a new section 415A into the Insolvency Act 1986.
791.The new section will enable the Secretary of State to charge a fee to bodies recognised under section 391 Insolvency Act 1986 as a professional body for the purposes of licensing insolvency practitioners (IPs). It is intended that fees prescribed under this provision not only cover the cost of recognition but also the cost of monitoring the bodies’ activities, such as overseeing their procedures and ensuring that licensing is carried out properly. The fee will also cover the cost of more general regulatory functions carried out by The Insolvency Service, such as representation on the Joint Insolvency Council and keeping IPs informed of legislative and other developments through the issuing of newsletters and guidance. The cost of these regulatory functions is currently met by the DTI but the new policy is that they should fall to the profession. The fee, which will be set out in secondary legislation, will be charged to each body based on the number of IPs licensed by them.
792.Subsection (2) of new section 415A provides for a fee to be charged to those IPs licensed by the Secretary of State under section 392, and will be based on the cost of granting and maintaining authorisation. The fee will also include the cost of monitoring the IP and the general regulatory functions undertaken by The Insolvency Service. As with the fee for the recognised bodies, the fee for IPs licensed by the Secretary of State will be set through secondary legislation. The level of the authorisation element of the fee will reflect more closely that charged by the recognised bodies to those IPs they license than the current authorisation fee of £100, which was set in 1986.
793.Subsection (3) provides for payment of fees that relate to the operation of the Insolvency Services Account by The Insolvency Service and money paid into or out of the Account. The Insolvency Service will separate out the costs that relate to its operation of the Insolvency Service Account so that these costs are met by insolvent estates. This will allow for clear identification of those banking services that are carried out in respect of all cases, and that will be charged through an annual service fee, and those that relate to specific estates and transactions such as investment requests by IPs or the volume of payments out of the account through cheques or bank transfers. These changes will also enable the ending of the current arrangements whereby a number of different fees are used to meet these costs and to cross-subsidise other functions. Subsection (4) applies the conditions that apply to fees under section 414 to those introduced under 415A.
Sections 271 and 272: Insolvency Services Account: interest & Insolvency Services Accounts
794.Section 405 of the Insolvency Act 1986 requires that any excess in investment income from the Insolvency Service Investment Account after payments to insolvent estates and tax should be paid into the Consolidated Fund. Schedule 8 paragraph 16 and Schedule 9 paragraph 21 of the Insolvency Act 1986 enables the interest rate for the return of investment income to insolvent estates to be set through secondary legislation. The current rate of 3.5% has applied to companies since before the implementation of the 1986 Act. The Insolvency Act 2000 provided for payment of interest into bankruptcy estates.
795.Section 271 introduces additions to Schedules 8 and 9 to the Insolvency Act 1986 to allow Rules to be made providing for the interest rate to be set by the Secretary of State by the issuing of a Notice, as opposed to through secondary legislation. This will enable the rate to be reviewed at regular intervals, probably annually, and allow changes in investment returns to the Account to flow through to insolvent estates without having to make regular amendments through statutory instruments.
796.Section 272subsection (1) removes the requirement under section 405 Insolvency Act 1986 for excess income from the Insolvency Services Investment Account to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
797.Section 408 of the Insolvency Act 1986 provides for recourse to the Consolidated Fund where, after payments received from the Investment Account, the Insolvency Services Account has insufficient funds to meet its liabilities. Subsection (2) of section 272 substitutes for the current section 408 a new section that incorporates the circumstances covered by the current section 408 and section 405 but provides wider powers that allow for adjustments to be made between the Insolvency Services Account or the Insolvency Services Investment Account and the Consolidated Fund. Adjustments may be necessary due to short-term fluctuations between the expected income, based on the level at which the interest rates are set and the actual investment return. This is because interest rates are set in advance, whereas the Investment Account is made up of investments purchased at different times, for different amounts, with differing returns and over different periods. New section 408 will enable the maintenance of a ‘buffer’ in the account to deal with such fluctuations and there may be occasions where adjustments need to be made between the account and the Consolidated Fund.
