A SQUEEZE on incomes as a result of Westminster austerity is behind a 17 per cent increase in personal insolvencies, according to Scotland’s Business Minister.
Paul Wheelhouse made the comments after the latest data showed debts forced 2839 people to either become bankrupt or take out a protected trust deed over the period April to June 2017.
The figure is up from 2420 in the same period of 2016.
Wheelhouse said: “On the personal insolvency front, there is no question that continuing austerity has led to incomes being squeezed and more people suffering the anxiety and distress of insolvency as a result.”
While personal insolvencies increased, the latest data from Accountant in Bankruptcy showed a fall in businesses going under.
Corporate insolvencies for April to June totalled 200, compared to 265 the previous year, a fall of 24.5 per cent.
Wheelhouse said these “welcome low corporate insolvency numbers come in the wake of recent statistics which reveal unemployment at a record low, the Scottish employment rate rising and GDP figures showing Scotland’s growth rate to be four times that of the UK”.
On the number of people being made insolvent, he said it was important to “acknowledge that the longer-term trend of people accessing statutory debt relief and debt management solutions is a declining one and numbers of people falling into insolvency are around half of the levels reported at the turn of the decade”.
He stressed: “The Scottish Government will work tirelessly to protect those individuals facing financial hardship, by working towards reducing poverty and inequalities in Scotland.
“We aim to provide all in Scotland with methods to be able to handle their finances more effectively.”
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