Recommendation 3

The Child Trust Fund scheme is not easily accessible for the families and carers of children and young people lacking mental capacity. The Ministry of Justice estimates that between 63,000 and 126,000 young people may not have the mental capacity to access and manage their matured Child Trust Fund when they reach adulthood. Instead, their family or carer must apply for legal authority to access and manage it on their behalf. However, the Court of Protection (covering England and Wales) approved only 15 such applications during 2021. Financial deputyship rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland are comparable to the rules in England and Wales, meaning similar issues are likely to have arisen. Fees are waived if families are only applying to access a Child Trust Fund but there are other barriers – we heard examples of a six-page GP letter being needed as part of the process, and the Downs Syndrome Association told us that low awareness about banking safeguards among parents it supports is a barrier to accessing their children’s Child Trust Funds. HMRC emphasised to us that the owners of matured Child Trust Funds are adults, and the law needs to protect their interests. Providers, the Ministry of Justice and HMRC are aware of the issue. HMRC said its guidance explains what people need to do. Some providers have, at their own risk, allowed families of young people without capacity to access funds in a Child Trust Fund up to £5,000. Recommendation 3a: In its Treasury Minute response, the government should set out what steps different bodies, including the Ministry of Justice and its equivalents in the home nations, are taking to help the families of young people who lack mental capacity to access their Child Trust Funds without excessive bureaucracy and cost. b) the government should include in the response statistics on how many people have used, successfully or otherwise, the current options available in each nation and set out the impact of the specific steps the govern