Child Trust Fund Westminster Conference
Intro to Unclaimed, Adult-owned Child Trust Funds Conference on 5/3/24 at Church House, Westminster -
This half-day conference was hosted by The Share Foundation and sponsored by NatWest and The Tracing Group in order to draw attention to the need to help young adults, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds, to become aware of and access their matured Child Trust Fund accounts: there are over one million such unclaimed accounts valued at over £2 billion as at March 2024.
Event Videos
Nici Audhlam-Gardiner comments on the need for much-improved financial education for young people
Nici Audhlam-Gardiner is Chair of TISA's Financial Education Council (TISA is the trade association for CTF account providers) in addition to her role as CEO of Foresters Financial, one of the three largest CTF account providers. In this video clip, she stresses the importance of financial awareness and the role that Child Trust Funds can play in helping to make it a reality for young people and their families.
Laura Newman from Nat West comments on the Unclaimed, Adult-owned CTF Conference, 5/3/24
Laura Newman from NatWest reviews the event: she also introduced the account providers' panel discussion at 11.30 am. NatWest plays a key part in helping young adults to find their accounts as a participant in the CTF Register, assisting the promotion of findCTF.sharefound.org, and as the major sponsor for the CTF Conference itself.
Danielle Higgins of The Tracing Group comments on the Unclaimed, Adult-owned CTF Conference, 5/3/24
Danielle Higgins is CEO of The Tracing Group, a joint sponsor of the CTF conference and operator of The CTF Register, which links the majority of Child Trust Fund accounts for The Share Foundation's findCTF.sharefound.org search facility. She comments on the encouraging contribution of the conference for tackling the large number of unclaimed, adult-owned accounts
Sue Parsons of The Share Foundation comments on the Unclaimed, Adult-owned CTF Conference, 5/3/24
Sue Parsons, who manages operations at The Share Foundation, comments on the key role which the CTF conference is playing in raising awareness of the need to deliver the Child Trust Fund harvest for young adults.
Conference Videos and Slides
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As Treasury Minister responsible for the introduction of the Child Trust Fund in the early years of the then Labour government, Ruth explains the rationale and design of the scheme.
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Gavin looks back at the origins of the Child Trust Fund, the journey over the past 12 years, and the current state of unclaimed accounts.
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Andrew Turner & Philip Warford provide an update on family access for disabled young adults.
Please note that a full audio recording of the Westminster Hall debate on this issue on Tuesday 19th March can be accessed here via a Share Radio podcast (there’s a free email registration) .
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Danny Kruger MP sets out his perspective on the Child Trust Fund scheme, then he and Ruth Kelly are joined by Gavin and Andrew to address questions and comment from the audience.
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NatWest & others, including Foresters Friendly, One Family & Healthy Investment provide the account providers’ perspective on unclaimed, adult-owned Child Trust Funds.
Comment on the conference from Laura Newman (NatWest), and slides and video below.
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Mark Pickard, Head of Savings & Charities Policy at HM Revenue & Customs, describes progress with the Government Gateway in seeking to re-unite unclaimed CTF accounts — please see video below.
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Danielle Higgins of The Tracing Group explains how the findCTF search facility and the CTF Register work, and the impact this has made in linking young adults with their accounts.
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Sue Parsons (The Share Foundation), Fiona Ross (Citizens Advice, Havant and CTF Ambassador), and Nici Audhlam-Gardiner (Chair of TISA Financial Education Council) present survey findings and reactions from successful claimants, & discuss progress with financial education and awareness.
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Gavin puts forward a new approach for inter-generational rebalancing, built on experience with the Child Trust Fund scheme.