Draft Insolvency Act 1986 (Disqualification from Parliament) Order 2011
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
† Baker, Steve (Wycombe) (Con)
† Burns, Conor (Bournemouth West) (Con)
† Cryer, John (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
† Evans, Chris (Islwyn) (Lab/Co-op)
† Flynn, Paul (Newport West) (Lab)
† Hamilton, Mr David (Midlothian) (Lab)
† Laing, Mrs Eleanor (Epping Forest) (Con)
† Leech, Mr John (Manchester, Withington) (LD)
† Lloyd, Stephen (Eastbourne) (LD)
McGovern, Alison (Wirral South) (Lab)
† Mosley, Stephen (City of Chester) (Con)
† Murphy, Paul (Torfaen) (Lab)
† Parish, Neil (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
† Pound, Stephen (Ealing North) (Lab)
† Swire, Mr Hugo (Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office)
† Watkinson, Angela (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury)
† Weatherley, Mike (Hove) (Con)
Glenn McKee, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee
Tuesday 28 June 2011
[Mr Andrew Turner in the Chair]
Draft Insolvency Act 1986 (Disqualification from Parliament) Order 2011
4.30 pm
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Hugo Swire): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Insolvency Act 1986 (Disqualification from Parliament) Order 2011.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. The purpose of this order is to bring the law as it applies in Northern Ireland into line with England and Wales on parliamentary disqualification resulting from personal insolvency in relation to bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings.
The law applying in England and Wales was amended by the Enterprise Act 2002, so that someone who was bankrupt was no longer disqualified from sitting or voting in Parliament or being elected to this House. In the case of a Member of this House, they no longer lost their seat after six months. Someone against whom a bankruptcy order has been made can be disqualified from Parliament, and in the case of a Member of this House will lose their seat, only if they become subject to a further order, termed a bankruptcy restrictions order.
Bankruptcy restrictions orders are made by the courts and bankruptcy restrictions undertakings are given to the Secretary of State, or in the case of Northern Ireland, to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. They are a means of placing a bankrupt person under continuing restrictions following their discharge, in cases where there has been misconduct.
The 2002 Act provided a modern bankruptcy regime allowing those who failed honestly to have a second chance. A second objective behind the 2002 Act provisions dealing with personal insolvency was to protect the public where there was misconduct by the bankrupt person. That is why there is provision for a regime of bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings. It would
not be right to allow a person who had been found to be culpable to continue sitting or voting in Parliament or to be elected as a Member of Parliament.A system of bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings equivalent to that operating in England and Wales was introduced to Northern Ireland by the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 2005. The necessary pre-conditions are therefore in place to allow the making of this order. The order will also have the consequential effect of amending the grounds for disqualification from the Northern Ireland Assembly, because under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a person is disqualified from being a Member of that Assembly if he is disqualified from membership of this House, otherwise than under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
I hope the Committee is reassured that this order will simply update the disqualification arrangements for this House regarding bankruptcy for those from Northern Ireland. In doing so, it will also update similar provisions regarding membership of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
4.33 pm
Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab): I, too, feel that it is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner, although I feel slightly constrained by the presence of my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
One would have to dig pretty deep and hard to find some dreadful, cynical plot behind this document. It has its genesis in that great and good man, Lord Mandelson. In the 2002 Act, he decided that bankruptcy should have two purposes. One was to protect the public from the depredations of the banker, while the other was to allow the fallen entrepreneur to rise again. Lord Mandelson rose again on a number of occasions, to almost universal approbation.
Once the 2005 order had been passed, there was no reason whatsoever for us not to go for an all-UK standard on this matter. As the Opposition, we entirely support the Government on this order. It is another vital and crucial step on the road to normalisation. Never has there been a time when the steps on that road have been more important. It may seem a small matter, but it is another brick in a wall that will hopefully not divide, but strengthen. It is a peace wall, rather than a dividing wall.