Child Trust Fund: Bulletin 23 - local authorities and looked-after children
Published 4 September 2017
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-trust-fund-bulletin-23-local-authorities-and-looked-after-children/ctf-bulletin-23
This bulletin provides information on the transfer of responsibility of Child Trust Fund (CTF) for looked-after children to The Share Foundation, from either the:
- Official Solicitor
- Accountant of Court
Make sure the appropriate people in your organisation read this bulletin.
If you have any enquiries Email: savings.audit@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.
Transfer of responsibility of CTFs for looked-after children
The Deregulation Act 2015 amended the Child Trust Fund Act 2004 to allow a wider range of organisations, including third sector bodies, to be appointed to manage CTFs for looked-after children.
Responsibility for managing CTF
From 1 October 2017, responsibility for managing the CTFs of looked-after children will be transferred from the Official Solicitor or Accountant of Court to The Share Foundation - a charity appointed under contract by the Secretary of State at the Department for Education (DfE).
The Share Foundation currently manages the equivalent Junior ISA scheme for looked-after children under a contract with DfE.
The Share Foundation responsibilities
The Share Foundation will assume responsibility for:
- the CTF accounts managed by the Official Solicitor or Accountant of Court as at 30 September 2017
- the CTF accounts of those children who were looked after as at 30 September 2017 but the Official Solicitor or Accountant of Court had not been notified
- managing the CTF accounts of children who have been looked after for any continuous period of 12 months or more from 1 October 2017
The relationship between The Share Foundation and local authorities is the responsibility of the DfE.
Local authority requirements
The Child Trust Funds (Amendment) Regulations 2017 amend regulation 33A to remove the requirement for local authorities to identify, and provide information to HM Revenue and Customs, where a child becomes looked after.
For the duration that The Share Foundation is responsible for managing these accounts, this information will be provided directly to The Share Foundation under rules developed by DfE.