Devolved Authorities: Use of Resources

Debate between Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, achieving value for money ought to be a priority for any Government, whether national, regional or local, especially a Government committed to growth. So I come back to the point mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: do the Government consider that the SNP Scottish Government’s actions on trans rights represented a good use of taxpayers’ money?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I appreciate the question that the noble Baroness has asked, but I think that the one thing that should focus our minds, besides the outcome of what the Supreme Court said, is what the Scottish Government should do, and we all should be doing, in the best interests of all the Scottish people. That must be to secure growth to make sure that the support that we have for our cities, our people and the NHS is for all the people in Scotland. It would be great to see the Scottish Government and the UK Government work closely together to ensure that that happens.

Child Trust Fund Accounts

Debate between Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

We are working across departments and with all the providers to try to ensure that access is gained for people who have child trust funds. I am not quite sure what kind of relationship and communication we have with friendly societies, but I will make sure that someone writes to the noble Lord to let him know.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I too very much welcome the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Sedgefield, to his place. There is a problem, as he said, so can he say whether he has formally consulted, or intends to, the financial institutions or the child trust fund providers on the feasibility of simplifying the process for young people accessing their funds? What steps might he take to ensure that they are more aware of the child trust fund accounts—perhaps using social media and so on—so that we communicate this opportunity for people to pick up these funds, which are not being claimed, as the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, explained?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

As of 5 April 2024, some 2.5 million child trust funds accounts and 670,000 mature child trust fund accounts had not been claimed. The Government recognise the importance of ensuring that we marry up young people with those accounts. HMRC is working very closely with opinion-formers and stakeholders to try to ensure that this group is reached. This includes, for example, working closely with UCAS, joining with younger influencers who discuss personal finances online, and using traditional media and HMRC’s own social media channels to target young people to ensure that they know the trust funds exist.