Clause 2 - Eligible children
Child Trust Funds Bill
10:00 am
Mr David Laws (Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)
I understand why the hon. Gentleman raises this issue, but he does not propose that the Government should contribute to the accounts of children born before the date that they have set, and the tax advantages of the child trust fund are pretty marginal for most people compared with existing savings reliefs. Therefore, is the only advantage that he is really offering parents who would take advantage of his proposals a tax-advantaged account that has some handcuffs, if I can put it that way, in that the money is kept in it for 18 years? Otherwise, they could presumably exploit other means of tax-advantaged saving.