Martin Lewis quizzes Minister on Child Trust Funds following debate promise

2 mins read

Wednesday 20 March 2024

Tags: child trust funds, martin lewis, westminster hall debate

Yesterday in Parliament, MPs debated the issues around accessing savings locked in Child Trust Funds for more than 80,000 disabled youngsters.

Watch Westminster Hall debate back on Parliament TV. Or read full transcript of the debate in Hansard, the official report of all Parliamentary debates

Minister commits to work with DWP as Labour MP says any future government must act

Sir Jeremy Quin MP introduced the debate, on behalf of parent campaigner Andrew Turner. He pushed his own government to talk to the finance industry about the simple process they have been using to help some families unlock their savings.  

There was a speech by Sir Ed Davey MP, leader of the Liberal Democrat. His disabled son John will also be unable to access his savings. Labour’s shadow Justice minister, Alex Cunningham MP, said a Labour government will want to fix this injustice if they win the next election. He also included a statement from Contact’s Campaign lead, Una Summerson. She says: “implementing a less restrictive approach is in the best interests of disabled young people. Disabled young people must be allowed to enjoy their savings like everybody else. Continuing to promote actions that fail to address this issue will simply perpetuate injustice. There is an opportunity to bring common sense into the debate and to commit to a new approach”.

Mike Freer MP, responding for the government, made a potentially-valuable promise to talk to the Department for Work and Pensions about using the appointee scheme. 

Thanks to Nasreen Yasin, Claire Binney, Michele Creed, Ramandeep Kaur, Rachel Dixon and John Roberts and their son Joseph for joining us at debate. 

Martin Lewis raises issue on Good Morning Britain

This morning, the money journalist Martin Lewis raised the issue with a government minister on Good Morning Britain.  In response, the Minister said it is a “priority area for the government.”

You can watch Martin Lewis talk about the Child trust Fund debate with Sir Ed Davey MP on Good Morning Britain at 6.54am (timestamp: 0.48:00). The panel speak to the Minister at 8.38am (2:13:30).

This is a small step in the right direction, but not an immediate solution for the vast majority of disabled youngsters.  So the fight continues alongside parent campaigners, finance and legal firms.

Thank you again to all our supporters taking action.