Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 28 February (HL6497), what assessment they have made of whether giving grandparents with written parental approval the ability to open a junior ISA on behalf of a grandchild would significantly increase the number of such ISAs taken out, in line with their policy objective.

Junior ISAs (JISAs) form a key part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that young people are supported to save from an early age and into adulthood. Since the launch of the JISA in 2011, the number of accounts being subscribed to each year has increased significantly. In 2019-20, over 1 million JISAs were subscribed to on behalf of children across the UK.

The Government wishes to ensure that the ISA regime remains simple and sustainable for both savers and providers. Placing a restriction on who can open and manage a Junior ISA (JISA) helps to prevent more than one account of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error and ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. Removing this restriction would increase the risk of multiple accounts being opened and subsequently needing to be made void. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild.

While only parents or legal guardians can open a JISA on behalf of their children, grandparents can add funds to the account, up to the subscription limit of £9,000 per year. Grandparents may also open an adult ISA in their own name to save and invest for their grandchildren, which can later be gifted outside of an ISA.

The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.