Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24

This Annual Report records another year’s strong performance by the agency. As ever, that performance is determined and driven by the team here at Kilwinning, and I continue to be grateful for their commitment and professionalism. 

In many ways, this has been a year of preparation – preparing to implement the new Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Act 2024, preparing for the new shared service Finance and HR systems, preparing for radical change to our hybrid working model, preparing to welcome new tenants to our building here in Kilwinning, preparing to complete our move to the Cloud and so on: there are many more examples in the pages that follow, which set the agenda for the year to come.

We saw more people than ever before taking advantage of the Debt Arrangement Scheme – which remains the UK’s only statutory debt management plan - to manage their debts, increasing even on last year’s record-breaking numbers. We continued to work closer together both with other Scottish public bodies and our peers in the insolvency world across the globe: one example of which would be that 2025 should see both Australia and Canada introduce equivalents of our Minimal Asset Process.

But much of the year was spent preparing for something that didn’t happen. After Brexit, the pandemic, and the cost of living crisis, we had been expecting to see insolvency numbers sharply increase. In the event, bankruptcy numbers remain broadly flat, and it now seems likely that this picture will continue across 2024-25: we may have arrived at a “new normal”. This is despite a broad range of data showing many Scots continue to struggle financially, and we continue to spend much time and effort with our stakeholders and international peers to assess that data and discuss what we can learn about future trends. The number and type of cases coming forward has a significant impact on both our business model and our finances, and our Advisory Board in particular have spent much time scenario planning to ensure we can be ready for whatever comes.

Dr Richard Dennis

The Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive

03 December 2024