Question to the Attorney General:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 17 March (HL2334), when they first became aware of a request from a relative of the donor to return the money in the National Fund to the family; and whether they intend to make any change to the Attorney General's application to release the funds as a result.

In October 2019 the Attorney General’s Office was contacted by representatives of an individual who claimed to be a descendent of the anonymous donor that established the National Fund. They also claimed that the trust was void ab initio and that unless the court finds that the donor had a “paramount charitable intent”, the Fund belongs to his residuary estate.

The individual subsequently applied to join the proceedings initiated by the Attorney General in May 2018, in order to represent the interests of all persons who are or may be or become entitled to share in the residuary estate of the donor. In January 2020 the Court ordered that this individual be joined to the proceedings and that they serve evidence in support of their claim.

The Attorney General remains of the view that the trust establishing the National Fund is valid and its purposes exclusively charitable.

It is now for the High Court to determine the individual’s claims and decide whether the terms of the charitable trust should be varied as sought by the Attorney General. If the Attorney General’s application is successful the money in the fund will be paid over to the National Debt Commissioners towards the reduction of the national debt.

The hearing in the High Court is scheduled for October 2020.