Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the extent of the practice whereby companies commission work from sub-contractors and then liquidate that company in order to avoid paying for the work only for the directors to establish a new business under a different name; and if he will make a statement.

Office holders appointed to administer a liquidation are required to investigate the conduct of directors and report about that conduct to the Insolvency Service within three months of the liquidation. This may lead to investigation and proceedings to disqualify or, in serious cases, prosecute directors for misconduct. Depending upon the evidence obtained, such misconduct can include where a director caused a company to incur a debt which they had no intention of the company repaying.