{"id":131,"date":"2016-09-25T17:09:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-25T17:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecompliancealliance.co.uk\/blog\/?p=131"},"modified":"2018-04-23T14:07:58","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T14:07:58","slug":"the-new-insolvency-rules-is-the-wait-almost-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecompliancealliance.co.uk\/blog\/legislation\/the-new-insolvency-rules-is-the-wait-almost-over\/","title":{"rendered":"The new Insolvency Rules: is the wait almost over?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last published .gov.uk update on the new Insolvency Rules was July 2015, when the expectation was that the Rules would be made in \u201cSpring 2016 with a commencement date of 1 October 2016\u201d. As that day fast approaches, where are<\/em> we..?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the ICAEW\u2019s London roadshow last week, Simon Whiting, Senior Policy Advisor of the Insolvency Service, gave us the news:<\/p>\n

\u201cwe are aiming to lay the Rules before Parliament in the week commencing 10 October 2016\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201ccommencement will be 6 April 2017\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 all subject to Ministerial approval\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Technical and compliance directors, managers and consultants have been fearing and dreading this day for several years now. Although my stomach still turns when I think of all the candle-burning days and nights ahead, personally I feel like I\u2019ve done enough waiting: I\u2019m ready!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Spare a thought for colleagues<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a short plea to all appointment-taking and practice-heading IPs in England & Wales: please try to avoid giving your technical and compliance staff any other <\/em>projects over the next six to twelve months.<\/p>\n

The new Rules will be well over 400 pages long and they will introduce changes from the blinding to the subtle. Okay, many changes will be neither here nor there; if some changes are overlooked, the worst effect will be a red flush at the next monitoring visit. However, some crucial processes \u2013 such as how to get appointed and how to obtain fee approval \u2013 will change fundamentally and you will want to get these correct from the start.<\/p>\n

Also, don\u2019t be misled into thinking that the changes won\u2019t matter until you get your first new appointment after 6 April 2017. The plan is that, with the exception of a few common-sense items, the new Rules will apply across the board, to both existing and future appointments. This does have an advantage \u2013 we won\u2019t have to devise and endure dual processes, as we have done since 2010 \u2013 however, it will be impossible to introduce the changes gradually: when we wake up on 6 April 2017, we will have to be ready to implement the new Rules for cases at any stage from cradle to grave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The headline changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deborah Manzoori summarised some of the planned changes in an earlier post (https:\/\/goo.gl\/qGLZWv<\/a>). We\u2019ve known about these ever since the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and the Deregulation Act 2015 came into being. These changes are set in stone and we\u2019ve simply been waiting for the new Rules to tell us \u201chow to\u201d.<\/p>\n

They include:<\/p>\n