Review of Scotland’s statutory debt solutions
Review of Scotland’s statutory debt solutions
In September 2019, Scottish Ministers committed to undertake a wide-ranging policy review of Scotland’s statutory debt solutions with the aim of further enhancing and improving our system. This was in response to a recommendation put forward by the then Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee following their scrutiny of the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2019.
Stakeholders agreed that the review should consist of three stages. The following sections provide information about each stage and will be updated as the review progresses.
Wider review - stage 1
Stage 1 involved an examination of immediate priorities that could be taken forward during the Parliamentary session. It specifically looked at measures that would help address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stage 1 concluded with the Bankruptcy (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 coming into force on 29 March 2021.
Wider review - stage 2
Stage Two of the review was undertaken by three stakeholder-led working groups, with a remit to consider the operation of existing statutory debt solutions and provide recommendations for improvement.
Each working group produced a report of recommendations for the Scottish Government to consider:
Working group reports and summary
- working group 1 - report of recommendations
- working group 2 - report of recommendations
- working group 3 - report of recommendations
- stage 2 working groups - summary of issues and recommendations
Supporting documents
Having considered the recommendations put forward by the three working groups, and those from a similar policy review of Scottish diligence measures, the Scottish Government developed specific proposals and issued a public consultation to seek further views.
The proposals taken forward that required primary legislation were introduced in the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Act 2024 which came into force on 15 July 2024.
The Act is being commenced in stages to factor in other associated work required, for example amendments to court rules and further stakeholder engagement. Further information is included in the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Act 2024 section on the AiB website.
The remaining proposals have been / will be taken forward through a mix of secondary legislation and operational guidance. The secondary legislation introduced so far is as follows:
Wider review - stage 3
Stage 3 has been a longer-term strategic review of Scottish statutory debt solutions to assess if they meet the needs of a modern economy. It has been run independently of AiB and the Scottish Government.
Background
In September 2023, Yvonne MacDermid OBE was appointed by Scottish Ministers to lead the review. Stage 3 formally launched in March 2024 with a stakeholder roundtable to understand what was currently working well, and what was not. It was followed by a public call for evidence to provide insight and data to inform the initial Stage Three work.
A public consultation followed setting out proposals to reshape the regime and ran from 12 March 2025 to 4 June 2025.
- Stage 3 consultation - published March 2025
- Stage Three Review: Feedback and Recommendations report – published March 2026
Two nationally representative surveys were also carried out by ScotPulse on behalf of the review team. The outputs of this consumer research are published below:
- Debt and Insolvency research survey (ScotPulse) - Published 12 March 2026
- Self Employed research survey (ScotPulse) - Published 12 March 2026
Final report and recommendations
The final report and full list of recommendations was published on 12 March 2026
The report sets out 52 recommendations for consideration by Scottish Ministers. The report should be read together with the Stage Three Review: Feedback and Recommendations report, which document summarises the responses to the March 2025 consultation and explains the rationale for each recommendation
A response from the Scottish Government will be published after the Parliamentary election, and when the government is in place.