I am delighted to have secured a “Westminster Hall” debate in Parliament next Tuesday to raise ongoing concerns about access to Child Trust Funds for children with a learning disability. Every year money which has been saved for children who have a learning disability is kept locked away because of the bureaucratic nightmare that families have to wade through to secure the funds for their children.
The unfairness of the current arrangements was highlighted to me by my constituent Andrew Turner who has been a tireless campaigner on the issue. Together we have met Ministers and real progress has been made – everyone wants better solutions – but more can and should be done to make access easier while retaining safeguards.
This is a simple question of fairness. We all want young disabled people to have access to their Trust Funds in a way that is not only safe but simple and swift.
We need to ensure young people with a learning disability don’t lose their savings: parents have enough to cope with without having to battle to access money invested for their children.
Ministers have already taken positive steps but there is much more that can be done – this debate will highlight routes that could provide easier access to CTFs for families supporting disabled young people.