CHILD TRUST FUNDS

Motion Text

That this House notes with alarm the Government's decision to abolish child trust funds for all children born after January 2011; acknowledges the success of the Child Trust Fund scheme in nurturing a savings culture and providing a future fund for young people, be it for university fees, accommodation, driving lessons, or expenses while undertaking an apprenticeship, for example; further acknowledges that 2 billion is currently held in child trust funds, and that 74 per cent. of these accounts were opened voluntarily by parents; recognises child trust funds as a progressive tool of social mobility, and of particular value to disadvantaged children; further notes that the cost of child trust funds is only 525 million a year, and that this figure is small compared with the money that could be raised from even modest bank levies; and calls on the Government urgently to reconsider the abolition of these effective savings funds.