This document sets out what insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State can expect from the officials with whom they have contact in insolvency practitioner Policy Section, London and insolvency practitioner Unit (IPU), Birmingham. It commits us to good enforcement policies and procedures. It is not intended as a complete statement of enforcement policy. It may be supplemented by additional statements of enforcement policy.

The primary function of the enforcement activities of the insolvency practitioner Section of The Insolvency Service is to protect the public interest. At the same time, carrying out enforcement functions in an equitable, practical and consistent manner assists in raising professional standards. We are committed to these aims and to seeking to ensure that insolvency practitioners are able to compete with one another on level terms.

The effectiveness of legislation in protecting the public depends crucially on the compliance of insolvency practitioners with the legislation. We recognise that insolvency practitioners want to comply with the law. We will, therefore, take care to help insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State to meet their statutory obligations without unnecessary expense, while taking firm action when serious breaches are found or where there has been non-cooperation in getting things put right, including prosecution where appropriate.

We have therefore adopted the central and local government Concordat on Good Enforcement. Included in the term "enforcement" are advisory and monitoring visits as well as authorisation and formal enforcement action. By adopting the concordat we commit ourselves to following policies and procedures, which contribute to improving standards, and will provide information to show that we are observing them.

Policy

Standards

In consultation with insolvency practitioners, the professional bodies recognised by the Secretary of State to authorise practitioners (RPBs) and R3, we have drawn up clear standards setting out the level of service and performance which the public and insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State can expect to receive. We will publish these standards and our annual performance against them on our website. The standards will also be available to insolvency practitioners who are authorised other than by the Secretary of State.

Openness

We will be open about the way we work, consulting insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State, RPBs and R3. We will discuss general issues or specific compliance failures or problems and will provide information and assistance. Although it is not possible to give legal advice, we will, when consulted, draw your attention to the requirements of the legislation in specific circumstances. We will also provide quarterly updates to all insolvency practitioners on technical matters relevant to the insolvency profession in our "Dear IP" publication, and issue guidelines on required and best practice and ethical standards in consultation with the recognised professional bodies.

Helpfulness

We believe that prevention is better than cure and that our role therefore involves actively working with insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State to advise on and assist with their compliance with the regulations, particularly through regular monitoring visits. We will encourage users to seek information and suggestions from us. We will ensure that wherever practicable our enforcement services are effectively co-ordinated to minimise unnecessary overlaps or time delays.

We will provide a courteous and efficient service. Applications for authorisation will be dealt with efficiently and promptly. Staff will identify themselves by name when contacted by telephone, and those you meet in our offices will wear name badges. All of our letters will contain the name of the person dealing with the matter, their email address, extension number and a fax number.

Complaints about Service

We will provide an effective and timely complaints procedure easily accessible to the public and to insolvency practitioners who are authorised by the Secretary of State. In cases where you remain dissatisfied, any right of complaint or appeal will be explained, with details of the process and the likely time-scales involved.

Proportionality

We will minimise the costs of compliance for insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State by taking enforcement or regulatory action proportionate to the risks. If there is non-compliance, the action we take will depend on the seriousness of the breach. We will advise you in writing on how to comply when a minor breach has occurred. When serious breaches are found or where there has been non-cooperation in getting things put right, these matters will be taken into account in considering fitness and, in appropriate cases we will consider prosecution.

Consistency

We will carry out our duties in a fair, equitable and consistent manner. We will have arrangements in place to promote consistency. We will issue guidelines on the standards with which our monitoring teams will comply in carrying out monitoring visits and will liaise with the recognised professional bodies through the medium of the Joint Insolvency Committee which meets quarterly to improve standards and ensure a consistency of approach between the authorising bodies.

Procedures

Enquiries and complaints received from insolvency practitioners will be dealt with promptly and accurately and within a specified timescale. Enquiries of a vital or urgent nature will be given priority and where possible dealt with within two working days. Enquiries of a routine nature will be dealt with within 15 working days of receipt or we will let you know within 5 working days why this is not possible in the particular case and when a full reply will follow. We will make it clear when responding to enquiries whether we are indicating what we consider best practice to be in the particular circumstances or whether we are informing you of your obligations under the legislation, and this will be put simply and clearly and confirmed in writing

We carry out various functions on behalf of the Secretary of State. Our target is to register all information relating to individual voluntary arrangements on the day of receipt. We aim to deal with applications for extension of time in respect of holding annual meetings, within the Insolvency Service’s published standards of 15 working days. Our target is to deal with applications for fixing remuneration in old Act bankruptcy cases and for release where there are dissenting creditors, within 10 working days and to sanction the use of local bank accounts within 5 working days of receipt.

Insolvency practitioners authorised by the Secretary of State will receive monitoring visits at such regular intervals as the authorisation officer deems to be necessary and which is proportionate to the risks involved. We will normally contact you before a visit to agree a mutually convenient time and will seek to ensure that our monitoring visits cause the minimum of disruption to your practice. We will provide a copy of a draft report of the monitoring visit in order to enable you to amend factual errors. The draft report will be provided to you within 20 working days of the visit, but if for any reason we are unable to do so, we will explain within this period why this is not possible and how long we expect to take to provide the draft report. We will either provide you with a final copy of the report within 10 working days of the conclusion of representations, or explain why this is not possible and when the final report will be provided. The final report will be passed to the authorisation officer who may agree an Action Plan with you to deal with any shortcomings. Unannounced visits will not normally be made, but may sometimes be necessary - for instance, where we become aware of matters that indicate there are causes for serious concern.

We are concerned to ensure that you are satisfied with the service that you receive, but if, nonetheless, a complaint arises in relation to our enforcement procedures, we aim to deal with it courteously and promptly.

If your complaint relates to monitoring visits please contact the Head of Monitoring Unit, insolvency practitioner Unit, Ladywood House, 45/46 Stephenson Street, Birmingham B2 4UZ.

If your complaint relates to any other aspect of insolvency practitioner regulation, please contact the Head of insolvency practitioner Policy Section, Area 5.6, PO Box 203, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QW.

If after doing this you are still dissatisfied you can write to the Inspector General and Chief Executive of The Insolvency Service, PO Box 203, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QW.

If you are dissatisfied with a decision of the Secretary of State that she is minded to refuse your application for authorisation, or to revoke your authorisation as an insolvency practitioner then you have the right to make written representations to the Secretary of State within 14 days of service on you of the Notice informing you of the decision.

You also have the right to require the Secretary of State to refer your case to the insolvency practitioners Tribunal, an independent Tribunal established under the legislation. Any such Notice will set out clearly those rights and how they are to be exercised. Further information can be found in a publication entitled "A Guide to the insolvency practitioners Tribunal" which can be obtained by contacting The Secretary, insolvency practitioners Tribunal, Area 5.1, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3QW (telephone 020 7291 6896)

If we receive a complaint about the conduct of a practitioner who is authorised by the Secretary of State whilst acting as an office holder, we will investigate the complaint. We may also investigate complaints against such practitioners where the conduct complained of occurred otherwise than as office holder in an insolvency. We will advise the practitioner of the name of the complainant and details of their complaint and give them opportunity to answer the complaint and to provide an explanation. We will advise both the complainant and the practitioner of the outcome of our investigation. If the complaint is proved we will take account of this in considering whether a practitioner remains fit and proper.