9 November 2021
Foresters Friendly Society confirms our commitment to support young people with a learning difficulty to access their Child Trust Fund.
The government has announced it will shortly be issuing a consultation designed to streamline the process by which children with learning difficulties can access their Child Trust Fund (CTF) when it matures.
On 11 October 2021, the House of Lords held a debate on the issue, during which it was suggested around 10,000 young people with learning difficulties have had a CTF mature, of whom many have faced extra costs or long delays to access their funds.
As a result, Foresters Friendly Society has agreed to a protocol which allows for balances of up to £5,000 to be released, without the need for the young person’s parent or guardian to adopt the usual Court of Protection process, and with proportionate safeguarding of their interests. The protocol is a process that is similar to the fair access protocol used by The Department for Education to enable vulnerable people to obtain a school place, and allows the release of funds in the plan against documentation that the parents or guardians may already have.
Alongside the Association of Financial Mutuals, Foresters Friendly supports a formal legal solution in development by the Ministry of Justice.
Grant Streader, Head of Operations at Foresters Friendly Society said:
“Whilst our volume of Child Trust Fund holders is fairly low when compared to other financial providers, we are still keen to ensure that we are able to support our more vulnerable members and their families at what could be a difficult and costly time.
By simplifying the maturity process, to help reduce costs to parents and guardians, and to ensure young people receive the money due to them without delay, we hope this will bring a much fairer customer outcome. We are doing this ahead of the government consultation and planned changes to the law, because it is very much the Foresters way of doing business”.