Context
Andrew Turner, a constituent of John Milne, lacks mental capacity and faces difficulties accessing his locked child trust fund. This issue has been ongoing for eight Justice Secretaries.
Question
My constituent has been through no fewer than eight Justice Secretaries, looking for a solution to the problem of locked child trust funds; he has had to start over again each time from scratch. Will the Minister give me and Mr Turner a clear understanding of what exactly the legal impediment is to a solution, and of what part of Government the objection is coming from, so that we can make a legal challenge to it, if necessary?
Answer from Sarah Sackman (Minister of State, Ministry of Justice)
We have to balance the desire to support young adults who lack capacity in accessing what is their property by right with the need to ensure that everybody who needs to access those child trust funds has the proper legal authority to do so. Safeguards must be in place, not least to ensure that those vulnerable adults are protected from economic abuse. That is why we must work very carefully across Government to ensure that those protections are kept in place.
Not addressed: The exact legal impediment and the specific government department responsible for this issue were not provided.
How: Balancing Desire With Need, Safeguards Must Be In Place
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