Part 5: Debt Management and Relief Background Administration Orders and Enforcement Restriction Orders
451.Administration Orders (“AOs”) are a court-administered debt management scheme for those with multiple debts totalling no more than £5,000, one of which must be a judgment debt. The provisions governing AOs are set out in sections 112-117 of the County Courts Act 1984.
452.The 1985 Civil Justice Review recommended a number of changes to the AO scheme and these were taken forward in section 13 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (“the CLSA 1990”). The changes included removal of the need for a judgment debt, an increase in the debt limit and the introduction of a strict three-year limit to the order. Section 13 also included, for the first time, an explicit power for the court to grant an order restricting enforcement where it considered that this would be more appropriate than an AO. Such an order, once made, would provide temporary relief from enforcement for those unable to meet their commitments for a period to be defined by each order. However, as concerns were raised about the viability of section 13, it has never been brought into force.
453.So, in July 2004 the Government consulted on a range of targeted options to offer better assistance to people with multiple debts (the Choice of Paths Consultation), including reform to the existing AO scheme and a revised and targeted Enforcement Restriction Order (“ERO”) scheme. The Government’s response paper on the consultation, published in March 2005, committed to a number of changes to the AO scheme including an increase in the debt ceiling and a time limit to orders. The paper also committed to a revised and more workable version of the ERO to address the deficiencies identified in section 13 of the CLSA 1990. Part 5 of the Act takes forward these changes.