Insolvency Service - Working Under The Insolvency Acts

Working Under The Insolvency Acts

The Insolvency Service operates under a statutory framework – mainly the Insolvency Act 1986, the Insolvency Act 2000, the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and the Employment Rights Act 1996. Insolvency Service staff are based across the UK in a network of 38 Official Receiver offices throughout England and Wales;

Enforcement Directorate and Headquarters in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh; Banking Section in Birmingham; and its Redundancy Payments offices in Edinburgh, Birmingham and Watford. As of 1 April 2006 Companies Investigation Branch of BERR transferred to The Service and is based in offices in both London and Manchester. The new Debt Relief Orders which came into force on 6 April 2009 under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 are not dealt with by Official Receivers Offices but at the Services Plymouth office.

The Inspector General and Agency Chief Executive is the Agency Accounting Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Service. Dr Richard Judge succeeded Stephen Speed as Inspector General on 30 July 2012.

Due to a decreasing case load over recent years the Isolvency Service has gone through major changes, mainly in personnel. 2010 saw the loss of the temporary/contract staff and by the spring of 2011 a large number of permanent staff had taken some form of redundancy. Further changes are being looked at by the Insolvency Service, which will include a further reduction in staffing levels and a movement of staff due to a reduction in the number of offices.