Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill

Closed 21 Jul 2023

Opened 25 May 2023

Contact

0131 348 5000

economyandfairwork.committee@parliament.scot

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

A new Bill aims to change the laws around bankruptcy in Scotland – the Bankruptcy and Diligence Bill. The Economy and Fair Work Committee in the Scottish Parliament wants to know what you think about the proposed changes.

The Committee particularly wants to hear from people with experience of severe financial difficulties. If you have lived experience of these issues, your views will be important in shaping how the Bill is scrutinised.

Some of the changes include:

  • Adding a “mental health moratorium” – meaning debt enforcement can be frozen for someone with serious mental health problems
  • Requiring creditors to give a debtor information about debt advice before enforcement
  • Requiring those responsible for seizing a debtor’s assets to tell creditors when this has not been successful, and why

To read more about the detail of the Bill, visit the Bill information page.

Sharing your views

The Economy and Fair Work Committee is responsible for scrutinising the Bill in the Scottish Parliament. The Committee would like to hear your views on the changes that are proposed by the Bill. You can let us know what you think by answering the questions outlined below.

Please answer any questions that are of interest to you. You don’t need to answer all of them.

Q1. Do you agree that the Scottish Government should take forward legislation in these areas?

Q2. What are the key issues that the Scottish Government should consider when developing a mental health moratorium?

Q3. What are the practical implications of the proposed amendments to bankruptcy legislation?

Q4. Are there any other aspects of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 that you think could benefit from reform?

Q5. How will the diligence reform proposals in the Bill impact on creditors and people in debt?

Q6. Are there other proposals for diligence reform that should be taken forward in this Bill?

Q7. Do you have any other comments on the Bill or this area of policy?

How to submit your views

Please submit your views using the online submission form, linked to below. We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. This call for views closes on Friday 21 July 2023.

The call for views closes on 21 July 2023.

Interests

  • EFW