Chamber and committees

I have two other brief questions. Could the Scottish Government have created a lower rate of ADP to transfer people on to, in order to mirror the DLA case load?

Yes.

Good morning, Richard. Thank you for the evidence that you have provided so far and the information that you gave us in advance.

I am interested in the point about minimal income and bankruptcy and how much that leaves people with. In particular, I know that the fee to access the bankruptcy options has been lowered, but it is still leaving some people unprotected. Will you say a little about the purpose of the fee and whether it is becoming a barrier?

In looking at this process, as you have set out in your evidence, there is a bit of policy divergence in that, with ADP, there is the interaction between the 50m rule and the 20m rule. Could any of the solutions that you have set out to address the transfer of individuals on DLA to ADP have been applied to the broader case transfer? It seems that, by definition, there will be two different systems, which will create inequity, in that some people will remain on a system that looks at the 50m rule as opposed to the 20m rule. If we are creating a solution to deal with this particular case load of people, could we not have done the same and extended that approach to others by addressing policies such as the 50m rule and the 20m rule?

Approximately how much do you collect in fees? You said that the majority of people do not pay, but it would be interesting to know what that figure is. I then have a further question that is still related to bankruptcy but slightly different, so I will pause.

I was looking forward to that answer as well.

Thank you—and welcome back.

My question was about people’s ability to borrow after they have been through the bankruptcy process, particularly for things like mobile phones or broadband—which I guess is not so much about being able to borrow as about being able to get credit. I think that you said that that issue did not specifically relate only to bankruptcy, and then you mentioned credit reference agencies. That is as much as I got.

Do you collect figures as to how much money you get from the total fees paid to you?

Forgive me if my next question is slightly outwith your remit. As you say, when people become bankrupt, it is a fresh start and I can understand why it is a helpful option, but it can often result in people being unable to get further borrowing. I am not suggesting that people should then get into a cycle of borrowing, but even things such as getting a mobile phone or broadband contract can be difficult, and those are pretty essential. We have heard about that issue from a lot of witnesses. Do you have any views on what we could do about that or how we could improve that situation for people?

I want to follow up on the breathing space concept. Earlier, you mentioned the scheme down south and said that although there were things that we should look to in it, there were also things that you had questions about. What questions do you still have? Could something similar could work here?