Child Trust Funds
Tuesday, 3 November 2026
Contributions
Bambos Charalambous (Southgate and Wood Green) (Lab)Labour
11. What estimate he has made of the number of child trust funds received by intended beneficiaries.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Lucy Rigby)Labour
The last Labour Government introduced child trust funds with the intention that every child in the country could access a financial asset as they entered adulthood. Almost 3 million young people have already accessed their funds, currently containing an average of £2,600 each. Today, we are announcing that we are making fund access simpler for those who lack mental capacity, meaning that tens of thousands more young people will benefit from their funds. I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith) in particular; I know they both care deeply about this issue.
I congratulate the Minister on her announcement, which will enable over 120,000 young people who lack capacity to access their child trust funds. That will make a huge difference to them. As she is aware, there are an estimated 800,000 unclaimed child trust funds, worth approximately £1.3 billion. What steps is she taking to enable those young people, who often are unaware of the existence of those funds, to access them? Will she work with the Share Foundation to find a long-term solution?
I will. I thank my hon. Friend again for the work he has done in this area. We are working with the Share Foundation as well as other industry partners. We have also set up a child trust fund taskforce to improve tracing and to customise communication and engagement, all with the aim of putting more young people in touch with their child trust funds.
John Milne (Horsham) (LD)Liberal Democrat
This is fantastic news—so many people have campaigned for it over so many years. I thank my colleague Baroness Kramer in the Lords, who helped by tabling an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill that has brought us to this point. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to my constituent Andrew Turner, who was one of the first parents to discover this issue when his child Mikey reached the age of 18 six years ago and has campaigned tirelessly on it? He has done a fantastic job. Would she like to congratulate him?
I would, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. I congratulate Mr Turner and indeed the hon. Member on all their work.
Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)Labour
This change on children’s trust funds is a huge win for the campaigners who have fought for six years to see it. I know that it means a huge deal to my constituents Paula and Andy Gilbert and their son James. What is the timescale for when these families will be able to access their money?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all the work she has done in this area, including with Mr Turner. I will table an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the Second Reading of which is next week, which will enable the Ministry of Justice to make regulations to put the change into action.
Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)Liberal Democrat
As a YMCA parliamentary patron, I visited the YMCA’s home in Glastonbury, which works alongside Street Foyer to support young people, including care leavers. Many care leavers had child trust funds opened by the state but have no parent or guardian to tell them that the money exists. They need it the most. What is the Minister doing to ensure that every care leaver receives the savings that are rightfully theirs?
We are looking at that issue via the child trust fund taskforce. I am more than happy to communicate further with the hon. Member on it.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5430956.