PPP update: May 2020

05 June 2020

The second full month of the lockdown saw the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill introduced to Parliament, the first monthly publication of the corporate and personal insolvency statistics, and continued media interest in the profession, its processes and how it has responded to the pandemic.

Movement on corporate insolvency framework reform

On May 20 the Government published its Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill – a piece of legislation which will which will introduce the biggest changes to the UK’s insolvency and restructuring framework for 20 years, and which has been under development since 2016.

We discuss the Bill in details in our blogpost on this topic, but it’s important to reiterate how pleased we are that the new moratorium contained in the legislation (which will give struggling businesses an opportunity to consider a rescue plan) will be available to insolvent firms.

We had campaigned on this point and are pleased our thoughts have been taken on board by the Government.

The first set of monthly insolvency statistics

In the middle of last month, the Insolvency Service released its first set of monthly figures for corporate and personal insolvencies (NB: corporate: England & Wales, Scotland; personal: England & Wales). These figures will be published on a monthly basis “to provide more up to date information on the numbers of companies and individuals who are unable to pay debts and enter a formal insolvency procedure as the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic continues”.

You can read more about our thoughts on the first round of monthly statistics in or statement or another of our blogposts, but we believe this is a positive move, as the stats will give us more of an immediate picture of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, consumers and the wider economy.

However, as we and the Insolvency Service noted, the figures come with some caveats attached. A number of recent policy decisions, initiatives and practical impacts of the pandemic will have an effect on the statistics and the picture they paint. As a result, it’s highly likely that the statistics that were published in the middle of May don’t provide a true picture of the impact of the pandemic on businesses and consumers, so we await June’s update with interest.

R3’s COVID-19 survey: next steps

May was also the month we launched our COVID-19 Survey, which we’ll be looking to publish and publicise the results from in the next few weeks.

Thank you to everyone who completed it – the insights you’ve shared will be incredibly useful to us in our work promoting the profession to parliamentarians, journalists, business bodies, and the general public. Keep an eye on your inboxes for our report on the survey results.  

R3 in the media

The new monthly insolvency statistics and the reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill kept our Press, Policy and Public Affairs team busy in May, and lead to R3 being featured in a wide range of regional, trade and national media outlets.

Journalist interest in the profession and its processes hasn’t lessened this month either. R3 spokespeople have been in demand to discuss a number of areas: the future of the Pre-pack Pool, Light Touch Administration, Company Voluntary Arrangements, and the current and future demand on the profession – to name but a few.

With the pandemic continuing into June, two major pieces of legislation before Parliament in the form of the Finance Bill and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, and another set of monthly insolvency statistics due, we’re anticipating another busy month…