Caerphilly AM critical of Child Trust Fund cut

Caerphilly’s Labour AM has attacked the new coalition Westminster Government for axing the Child Trust Fund to save cash.

The announcement by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government is part of of a wider cuts programme to save £6.2 billion.

Currently all children born on or after September 1 2002 receive a £250 Child Trust Fund (CTF) voucher to be invested on their behalf, with children from less well-off families receiving £500.

The Government makes a further contribution when children are seven and family and friends can pay in up to £1,200 a year.

The Tory-Lib Dem coalition is to scale back the £250 voucher to £50 in August and will scrap it completely in January 2011 in a bid to save £320m over the next tax year.

Mr Cuthbert said: “This announcement will be a major blow for parents here in Caerphilly who have benefited from the extra support provided by Labour to give their children a good start in life.

“6,278 children in Caerphilly have benefited from Labour’s Child Trust Fund and now the coalition of cuts between the Tories and Lib Dems will simply pull this support when many children need it the most.

“The actions of the Lib Dems and the Tories are quite simply deplorable.”

The Welsh Assembly Government’s Children’s Minister Huw Lewis AM, added: “Labour’s Child Trust Fund has benefited thousands of children in Caerphilly and helped them save for their future. It is deplorable that the Tories and Lib Dems have now pulled the rug from underneath local children.

“At a time of economic uncertainty when debt is a major worry it is short-sighted to say the very least to cut a government programme that encourages people to save for their children’s future.”

The £6.2bn cuts by the new Government will see Wales suffer overall by £162.5m.

The cuts total £187m although the Government has said £24m of that will be reinvested into the Welsh block grant.