House of Lords
28 October 2026
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House of Lords
Follow its sittings01:51 - 01:55
Speaker 1
First oral question, Lord Young of Cookham.
01:55 - 02:02
Speaker 2
I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the order paper.
02:02 - 02:41
Speaker 5
My Lords, the government is considering all potential options to resolve the issue of access to child trust funds. The roundtable held in July hosted by my noble friend Baroness Levitt provided valuable perspectives on all options and officials are moving forward with this work. The government cannot endorse the banks' exceptional processes as it is not consistent with the framework established by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the common law principles that underpin it, but we do recognize the need to find a solution to this problem so that this money can reach those who own it and need it.
02:41 - 03:28
Speaker 4
I'm grateful for that reply, my Lords. Some 250 million pounds is locked up in child trust funds built up by children who are now adults but have a learning disability. The government insists that the only way these sums can be unlocked is by going through the Court of Protection, a cumbersome and at times expensive process that can take between six and twelve months, deterring many applicants and so the benefits are foregone. So will the noble Lord transform the lives of some 80,000 young people by building on the excellent work of his predecessor Baroness Levitt, who recognized that the present system is not fit for purpose, by promoting quick and easy access to these funds and bringing to an end a manifest injustice?
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