Senior Conservatives have spoken out about the lack of compassion shown by their party to disabled young people denied access to money saved for them by their families.
Tens of thousands of learning disabled people are locked out of their Child Trust Funds, a savings scheme launched two decades ago by Gordon Brown. For the nine years the scheme ran children born were given £250 by the Government to start a nest egg, with parents encouraged to top up the amount.
The first Child Trust Fund babies turned 18 in 2020 but since then, any who lack the mental capacity to open their own bank account for the funds to be deposited have not been able to access the money unless their parents go to court. This is because of the Mental Capacity Act, legislation designed to protect the finances of vulnerable people.
Data obtained under a freedom of information request show only 70 court applications in nearly three years, representing just 0.3 per cent of all accounts for disabled young people that matured over the same period. It is calculated 168 young people are being locked out of their accounts each week, with an average £2,380 per person or just under £400,000 collectively lost. A total of £72m is estimated to sit in accounts unclaimed.
The Conservative politicians Lord Vaizey of Didcot, Danny Kruger and Jeremy Quin– as well as David Cameron’s former scriptwriter Clare Foges – have spoken exclusively to i about their concern over the government’s inaction.
Mr Kruger, a leading MP on the right of the party and the son of Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, said the Government should find a “more compassionate way to get these funds to the people it belongs to”.
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He added: “It can’t be right that the most vulnerable young people in the country are prevented from accessing their own money because of concerns about their parents stealing it … Families should not have to go through complex, expensive legal proceedings to get the money their disabled children are owed.”
Andrew Turner, who is campaigning for a change in the law after struggling to access the money for his disabled son Mikey, who is 19, has worked with the main Child Trust Fund providers to agree a workaround, but their proposal has been rejected by the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Turner, in common with most parents in this situation, had no idea of the problems that lay ahead when he first informed his Child Trust Fund provider that he wanted the funds to buy an adaptive bike for his son.
After being told he had to go to court, he appealed to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to receive the money more quickly, as Mikey has a degenerative neurological condition and it wasn’t clear if he would still be able to use the bike had the family had to wait the full six months it would take for a court date given his health and physical abilities were declining. The MoJ replied to say this would not be possible.
Lord Vaizey, who is working as a consultant with The Investing and Savings Alliance which has been involved with Mr Turner in coming up with the workaround, said: “The Government and supporting organisations need to pick up the pace in working through these issues, to the benefit of the affected children and young adults. This is vital work which must continue.
“Sending hard-pressed families through a court process that costs them anywhere between £200 and £1,000 for a doctor to prove capacity and involves filling in 93 pages of forms for one relatively small savings account is absurdly disproportionate,” added Mr Turner. “The courts’ own statistics show how comprehensively inaccessible the process is for parents.”
Clare Foges, a columnist and Lord Cameron’s former No 10 speechwriter, said: “Parents of disabled children are already drowning in paperwork. It is outrageous that they have to contend with more bureaucracy and extra costs just to access the money that rightfully belongs to their child. The status quo is creating unnecessary stress for those who can least bear it.”
The MoJ has said its priority is to not dilute the Mental Capacity Act, which it sees as a vital protection for disabled people, however, campaigners point out that this means accepting that the vast majority of people affected lose their savings.
Jeremy Quin tabled a Westminster Hall debate on the matter last month. “I know the [justice] minister is keen to help the families of disabled children but despite his efforts it is simply not working how it needs to. This results in families not being able to access funds that could prove a real benefit to their disabled children,” he said.
He added that the solution supported by Mr Turner and Child Trust Fund providers – to use the appointee scheme used by the Department for Work and Pensions to pay benefits – was “a simple and yet, I believe, largely safe means to unite tens of thousands of disabled children and their savings”.
An MoJ spokesperson said they didn’t recognise the figures calculated to determine the total amounts lost by disabled young people, adding: “We understand the frustration felt by many families attempting to access their own savings – which is why we’ve modernised the Court of Protection process and put in place extra support, cutting waiting times by two-thirds.
“We continue to work closely with banks, schools and charities to support families with disabled children while ensuring their finances remain protected from fraud and abuse.”
