'Anomaly' as Scots avoid bankruptcy boom
Experts have expressed surprise after bankruptcy levels in Scotland fell to a three-year low, just as the numbers of individuals going bust in England rocketed.
Link: Bankruptcy figures hit 11-year high
The number of Scots sequestered in the first three months of the year fell by 10% on the same period in 2003, in contrast to a 23% surge in bankruptcy orders in England and Wales.
The fall was all the more mystifying for coming at a time when consumer debt has reached record levels.
Blair Nimmo, KPMG’s head of corporate recovery in Scotland, conceded that he was puzzled by the ‘Scottish anomaly’.
‘It will be very interesting to see what happens, but my suspicion is that it could be a statistical issue that may be reversed with a very significant increase in the second quarter,’ he said.
‘I doubt this is symptomatic of the “prudent Scot” not taking on the debt of our English friends’.
Since 2000, bankruptcy levels in England and Wales increased 30%, while in Scotland there was a relatively gentle rise of 12%.
Far from revelling in the rosier figures, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: ‘We are currently consulting on proposals to improve the bankruptcy system in Scotland. If and when these proposals are introduced, we might expect a similar pattern to emerge in Scotland, with the number of individual bankruptcies increasing.’