Campaign to unlock £210million of young disabled people’s savings goes to parliament

3 mins read

Wednesday 4 March 2026

This applies in England and Wales only.

Today Contact, campaigners and finance industry leaders are meeting MPs in parliament to discuss solutions to unlock the savings of tens of thousands of young disabled people.

Right now, 80,000 young disabled people are locked out of money their families saved for their future. Due to mental capacity rules, their families must go through the Court of Protection to access their child’s money. This is a prohibitively lengthy, costly and complex process. There were just 70 court applications from families between September 2020 and May 2023.

There is a route that safeguards money with rigorous checks and balances, but allows easier access to savings. This route is called the “industry” process. The UK’s largest Child Trust Fund provider, OneFamily, has safely released funds to more than 2,500 disabled young people this way. But not all providers offer this route.

That’s why we are calling on the government to legislate so families can access this same fair route no matter where their savings are held. Today’s event, organised by parent campaigner Andrew Turner, Contact and OneFamily, will shine a spotlight on this matter.

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A post shared by Contact – for families with disabled children (@contactfamilies)

We need bold action from the government

Andrew says:

“Every young person should be able to benefit from their savings in Child Trust Funds or Junior ISAs. There’s compelling evidence that the court process is inaccessible to families simply trying to help their child access one small savings account. We need bold action from the government to put an end to this obvious inequality.”

Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, is sponsoring the event at the Palace of Westminster. She says:

“Families shouldn’t have to face a disproportionately complex court process to access their trust fund. I know Ministers are committed to finding a workable solution, but this inadvertent omission has been allowed to stand for far too long. Now is the time to set all bureaucratic obstacles aside and solve the issue.”

Anna Bird, Chief Executive at Contact, adds:

“Parents with disabled children are under enormous everyday pressures. They don’t need an extra battle to access money invested for their child’s future. We know this industry process safeguards young disabled people’s money at the same time as ensuring families don’t have to go through an arduous court process. We’d like to see the government back it.”

We want to say thank you to all our supporters who emailed their MP asking them to attend today’s event.

Does this issue affect you?

If you think this issue affects you, you can use the flowchart on our website to find out what your next steps are.

It’s important to note that the Child Trust Fund may have been converted to a Junior ISA. If so, you may encounter the same challenges accessing a Junior ISA as accessing a Child Trust Fund.

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