Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what information, advice and support they plan to offer to families in which a child is unable to manage the funds in their Child Trust Fund when they reach the age of 18.

To obtain the legal authority to make decisions about a Child Trust Fund on behalf of a young person who lacks the mental capacity to do so for themselves, parents and guardians need to apply to the Court of Protection for an order of the court or register a Lasting Power of Attorney. This is set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to protect vulnerable people.

We are working with financial institutions to raise awareness of these processes. They have agreed to provide information on these processes shortly after the account holder’s 16th birthday and again, when the account nears maturity.

For parents and guardians that may need to apply to the Court of Protection, they can ask for court fees to be waived when seeking access to a Child Trust Fund. Guidance for applicants has been updated to reflect this.

Should court applicants encounter any difficulties whilst completing Court of Protection application forms, they can contact the Court of Protection to request assistance. Contact details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/court-of-protection

We are also setting up a working group to consider how the Court of Protection application process can be simplified to reduce the burden placed upon the parents and guardians of disabled children.