The Department of Trade and Industry Redundancy Payments Service : Management and Recovery of Debt - Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General

Since 1991, the Redundancy Payments Service, which is part of the Department of Trade and Industry, have paid some #240 million each year under employment protection legislation to people who have been made redundant and are unable to secure monies owed to them by their former emplyers.

These payments are made from the National Insurance Fund, and become debts owed to the state by the businesses concerned.

Over the same period recoveries were around #20 million a year, most of which related to payments made in previous years.

This report examines whether the Service could secure increased and more timely recoveries of debts owed to them by insolvent employers by being an active creditor, and whether the Service could increase recoveries without making employers insolvent by adopting more elements of recognized good practice in their management of debt.