Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has had on including insolvency litigation in the scope of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

We have recently received representations from insolvency practitioners, including the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3), regarding a permanent exemption for insolvency litigation from the scope of the costs and funding provisions in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012. Ministry of Justice officials have met with R3 on this matter.

The LASPO reforms were implemented generally from 1 April 2013, although they were delayed for insolvency proceedings in order to allow stakeholders time to adjust. The Government's position remains - as announced by written ministerial statement in May 2012 (24 May 2012: Col 94WS) - that the reforms should apply to insolvency proceedings from April 2015.