Statutory debt solutions and diligence - policy review consultation: summary of responses

ii. Background

The Scottish Government committed to a policy review of both formal debt recovery mechanisms (known as diligence) and the statutory debt solutions (moratorium protection, bankruptcy, Protected Trust Deeds (PTDs) and the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS)) with the aim of further enhancing and improving our system.

The second stage of this review brought together many stakeholders with vast experience in diligence and the statutory debt solutions to review the existing debt solutions and determine where improvements could be made. This culminated in the stakeholders involved presenting a report of recommendations to the Scottish Government for consideration.

On 12 August 2022 the Scottish Government published a consultation in response to these recommendations setting out proposals for future action. The consultation asked for feedback on the Scottish Government proposals before they were progressed further either through legislation, guidance or working with stakeholders.

This report summarises the responses received to the consultation which will be considered fully by the Scottish Government in taking forward improvements to debt recovery mechanisms and statutory debt solutions.