78.— (1) Where—

(a) no objection is lodged by a creditor with the appropriate court within 14 days of the giving of the notice referred to in section 75, or

(b) an objection is lodged with the appropriate court and the matter is determined by the court on the basis that the objection should not be allowed,

the appropriate court shall proceed to consider, in accordance with this section, whether to approve the coming into effect of the Debt Settlement Arrangement.

(2) For the purposes of its consideration under subsection (1), the appropriate court shall consider F78[the notification and documents] furnished to it under section 76(1) and, subject to subsection (3)—

(a) shall approve the coming into effect of the Arrangement, if satisfied that the—

(i) eligibility criteria specified in section 57 have been satisfied,

(ii) mandatory requirements referred to in section 65(2) have been complied with,

(iii) Debt Settlement Arrangement does not contain any terms that would release the debtor from an excluded debt, an excludable debt (other than a permitted debt) or a secured debt or otherwise affect such a debt, and

F79[(iv) proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement, as the case may be—

(I) has been approved by the requisite proportion of creditors referred to in section 73(6),

(II) is one to which section 73(7) applies, or

(III) has been approved or, as the case may be, deemed to have been approved in accordance with section 74A(7) (inserted by section 7 of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015),]

and

(b) if not so satisfied, shall refuse to approve the coming into effect of the Debt Settlement Arrangement.

F78[(3) Where the appropriate court, for the purpose of its arriving at a decision under subsection (2), requires—

(a) further information, it may request the Insolvency Service to provide this information, and the Insolvency Service shall provide the information requested to the court and to the personal insolvency practitioner concerned, or

(b) further information or evidence, it may hold a hearing, which hearing shall be on notice to the Insolvency Service and the personal insolvency practitioner concerned.]

(4) F80[…]

F79[(5) For the purposes of subsection (2), the appropriate court may accept—

(a) the certificate of the personal insolvency practitioner referred to in section 75(1)(a)(i) (as amended by section 8(a) of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015) as evidence that the proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement has been approved by the requisite proportion of creditors referred to in section 73(6),

(b) the certificate of the personal insolvency practitioner referred to in section 75(1)(a)(ii) (as amended by section 8(a) of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015) as evidence that the proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement is one to which section 73(7) applies,

(c) the certificate of the personal insolvency practitioner referred to in section 75(1A) (inserted by section 8(b) of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015) as evidence that the Debt Settlement Arrangement has been approved or, as the case may be, deemed to have been approved in accordance with section 74A(7) (inserted by section 7 of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015), and

(d) the statement of the personal insolvency practitioner referred to in section 75(1)(c) (as amended by section 71 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013) or, as the case may be, section 75(1A)(c) (inserted by section 8(b) of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015) as evidence of any matter referred to in subsection (2) which is the subject of that statement.]

(6) The registrar of the appropriate court shall notify the Insolvency Service and the personal insolvency practitioner concerned where the court—

(a) approves or refuses to approve the coming into effect of the Debt Settlement Arrangement under this section, or

(b) decides to hold a hearing referred to in subsection (3).

(7) On receipt of a notification under subsection (6) of the approval of the coming into effect of the Debt Settlement Arrangement, the Insolvency Service shall register the Debt Settlement Arrangement in the Register of Debt Settlement Arrangements.

(8) The Debt Settlement Arrangement shall come into effect upon being registered in the Register of Debt Settlement Arrangements.