Official Statistics

Methodology and Quality Document - Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes 2023-24

Updated 11 September 2023

1. Overview

The Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes statistics reports on enforcement outcomes obtained as a result of the work of the Insolvency Service. This includes enforcement outcomes obtained as a direct result of the work of Insolvency Service employees, as well as cases that have been referred by the Insolvency Service or where there has been significant involvement of the Insolvency Service in a case.

These statistics are designated as ‘official statistics’ and are compiled in line with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

2. Background

The Insolvency Service Investigations and Enforcement Services are responsible for investigating serious financial misconduct by companies and individuals. Our Official Receivers are responsible for investigating individuals who are subject to bankruptcy or debt relief orders. Detailed information about our investigation and enforcement work and how we achieve our outcomes can be found online.

Our independent Legal Services Directorate (LSD) is the lead enforcement agency for insolvency related fraud and associated corporate misconduct. Further information on the range of legal, operational and policy advice provided by the LSD can be found online.

The separate Guide to Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes provides details of the enforcement outcomes presented within these statistics.

3. Data Sources

Data are compiled from a range of administrative databases and spreadsheets held by the Insolvency Service. The primary data sources are listed below with further details provided in the separate Statement of Administrative Sources.

• Investigation Branches Information System (IBIS) case management and intelligence database for recording complaints about live companies and recording the progress and outcome of any investigations (almost exclusively under the Companies Acts) arising from complaints.

• Cyclops Case management system for Criminal Enforcement Team (CET) to track and monitor cases referred to it for criminal investigation and prosecution (where appropriate).

• Hermes II Case management system for CET to track and monitor cases referred to it for criminal investigation and prosecution (where appropriate).

4. Compilation of Tables

Data are extracted from the administrative systems of the Insolvency Service. For each case, information extracted includes the type of the enforcement outcome, the date of the order, undertaking or sentence, and where relevant the length of the restriction imposed, allegations made and type and length or financial value of the sentence imposed.

Data are aggregated by enforcement type and checked for any inaccuracies. The cleaned data is then transferred to the published table format and presented by financial year. Data are also presented by month for the current financial year.

5. Revisions

These statistics are subject to scheduled revisions, as set out in the published Revisions Policy. Revisions tend to be made as a result of data being entered onto administrative systems after the cut-off date for data being extracted to produce the statistics. Any future revisions will be marked with an ‘r’ in the relevant tables.

In this release, annual figures have been revised back to 2015/16. This has allowed the inclusion of cases entered onto the administrative system after the date of data extraction for previous releases, resulting in more revisions than usual. Improvements to the process of removing duplicates and assigning cases to lenth bands have resulted in small additional revisions.

6. Quality

This section provides information on the quality of these statistics, to enable users to judge whether the data are of sufficient quality for their intended use. The section is structured to align with the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System for statistical outputs.

Relevance: The degree to which the statistical product meets user needs in both coverage and content.

The Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes statistics are intended to be the most comprehensive record of the outcomes of the investigation and enforcement activity of the Insolvency Service. The coverage of the statistics in this release differs throughout due to differences in legislation and policy across the United Kingdom.

Director disqualification statistics relate to individuals that have acted as the director of a company in Great Britain, or a company that has an interest in Great Britain and have been disqualified as a result of the work of the Insolvency Service. They exclude director disqualifications in Northern Ireland that are administered by the Department for the Economy.

Statistics relating to companies wound up in the public interest include United Kingdom and foreign companies registered at Companies House and companies that should be registered as they carry out business in the United Kingdom

Bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions statistics include individuals in England and Wales that entered insolvency via bankruptcy or a Debt Relief Order, where the individual is considered to have been dishonest or blameworthy.

Criminal charge outcomes statistics relate to individuals in England and Wales who have been charged with a criminal offence as a result of the work of the Insolvency Service or by other partner agencies within BEIS.

There are enforcement measures in Scotland and Northern Ireland for insolvent individuals which are not represented as they are enforced by the Accountant in Bankruptcy for Scotland and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.

It is anticipated that key users will include the Insolvency Service itself, other government departments, parliament, the insolvency profession, debt advice agencies, media organisations, academics, the financial sector, the business community and the general public.

The statistical production team welcome feedback from users of the Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes at [email protected].

Accuracy and Reliability: Accuracy is the proximity between an estimate and the unknown true value. Reliability is the closeness of early estimations to subsequent estimated values.

These statistics report on enforcement outcomes obtained as a result of the work of the Insolvency Service. Therefore, any activity conducted outside of the Insolvency Service, or where the Insolvency Service has not had significant involvement, will be excluded. In particular, reported numbers of disqualifications under Section 2 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 include only cases with which the Insolvency Service has had significant input. Therefore, there is a level of under-coverage in the reporting Section 2 disqualifications in these statistics.

Enforcement outcomes are reported based on the date of the order or undertaking, rather than on the date it was recorded on the administrative system. In practice this means there is likely to be an element of under-coverage in the first release of new data. Scheduled revisions aim to capture any cases recorded later than the cut-off date for extracting data. Any revisions are usually small.

Timeliness and Punctuality: Timeliness refers to the elapsed time between publication and the period to which the data refer. Punctuality refers to the time lag between the actual and planned dates of publication.

Typically, the monthly tables are scheduled to be released around 8 working days after month end. The annual report is scheduled to be released around 15 working days after year end to allow time to compile and quality assure the statistical release.

Where a scheduled release date falls on a Monday the scheduled release has been pushed forwards by a day, to the Tuesday, to ensure compliance with the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order. The publication schedule for these statistics, and all other Insolvency Service statistics, can be found on the Gov.uk website in line with the release practices of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Comparability and Coherence: Comparability is the degree to which data can be compared over time and domain. Coherence is the degree to which data are derived from different sources or methods, but refer to the same topic, are similar.

Companies House maintains a register of all directors disqualified under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. These Insolvency Service Enforcement Outcomes statistics are not consistent with the information held by Companies House for the following reasons:

• Companies House hold information on director disqualifications under sections of the Act under which director disqualifications are not pursued by the Insolvency Service,

• All Section 2 disqualifications will be reported to Companies House; including those with which the Insolvency Service has had not had significant input, and

• Section 6 and Section 8 disqualifications are recorded by Companies House at the point at which they are notified, whilst the Insolvency Service records these disqualifications based on the date of the disqualification result.

It is possible that Section 2 disqualifications where the Insolvency Service has had a significant input will also be reported by the relevant prosecuting authority that secures the conviction.

Accessibility and Clarity: Accessibility is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. Clarity refers to the quality and sufficiency of metadata, illustrations and accompanying advice.

Insolvency Statistics are available free of charge to the end user on the GOV.UK website and are available to download in HTML format. They can also be accessed by using an internet search engine. All the tables and any data behind graphs and charts in the report are available as Open Data Source (ODS) tables. These annual statistics meet accessibility requirements.

Historical insolvency data are also published for the key series, on the National Archives website, though note that they may not meet current accessibility requirements.

Commentary is provided in the publication to clearly discuss key facts and trends in the data and to clarify any complex points. It is also used to discuss the quality of the data, any assumptions made, and to provide appropriate caveats. Users who are interested in just the key findings can read the ‘Main Messages’ section at the start of the report which provides a list of the main points in the publication. Supplementary ODS tables are published alongside the bulletin for those users who wish to access the data presented in the publication themselves. A glossary of key terms is included at the end of the commentary and in the supplementary tables to aid user understanding of specialist terms.

Views on the clarity of the publication are welcomed. Please email [email protected].