Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Accepted
HMRC's outdated Child Trust Fund records hinder tracing tool, making account retrieval challenging.
Conclusion
HMRC has not kept its records on Child Trust Funds up to date, affecting the quality of its tracing tool. This means young people trying to trace their accounts through the Government Gateway are receiving data from HMRC that have not been updated since their account was originally opened, typically around 18 years ago. It is likely that the provider for many of these accounts will have changed, as the NAO found the number of Child Trust Fund providers has reduced from 74 in April 2011 to 55 in February 2023, due to providers merging or exiting from the market. HMRC acknowledged that some people need further assistance to interpret the responses they get from HMRC about their Child Trust Funds.33 It has no way of knowing how many queries to the service resulted in someone successfully finding their Child Trust Fund. Young people using the Government Gateway need to verify their identity, which The Share Foundation told us many find challenging.34 Evaluation and learning from the scheme
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the 'recommendation' (which was a conclusion) and commits to improving Child Trust Fund data quality by exploring more timely information, reminding providers of return requirements, and enhancing analytical processes by summer 2024.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target Implementation date: Summer 2024 5.2 HMRC is exploring opportunities for publishing more timely information on CTFs. HMRC has reminded providers of the requirement to make returns within 60 days of the end of the tax year. HMRC is also improving its analytical processes to reduce lead times. HMRC anticipates that future statistical information up to tax year 2023 to 2024 will be published by tax year in the Summer of 2024. 5.3 Since the Committee hearing, HMRC has published more recent information on CTFs up to April 2022 in June 2023, including new tables showing the cumulative number of matured accounts. Prior to the publication, HMRC was aware that some Child Trust Fund providers had not completed the requisite annual return. HMRC identified and reminded providers of the outstanding returns and these are included in the latest published statistics. The issue of missing returns was addressed in paragraph 3.3 of the Annual savings statistics: background quality report on Gov.UK.