The Inspector-General in Bankruptcy has introduced a tier ranking system that informs and directs their application of resources in regulating private bankruptcy Trustees. Whilst understandable as a potentially effective management tool, the assessment process was not the subject of any significant consultation with the roughly 250 private Trustees before being implemented. Published criteria and a set of compliance standards, one would expect, are likely on the way.

A consultation phase leading to industry engagement, and an industry commitment to a common purpose, is the likely next phase. This will require the Inspector-General to engage more directly with the profession. It is, as is often said, a watch-this-space moment.