Child Trust Funds (Amendment) Regulations 2009

I thank the Minister again for introducing the regulations, which have already been discussed in another place. This has led to rather more clarification of the costs and benefits than is contained in the explanatory documents. Under this Government, personal savings have fallen significantly, possibly because of the example of the Government. The discipline of saving is not easy to instil, especially when the Government themselves make no attempt to avoid impossible levels of debt. Giving children a first-hand experience of the process and benefits of saving may go a little way towards repairing the damage caused by the Government’s example of profligacy. The debate of 9 February was useful in highlighting the costs and benefits of the scheme. An accurate understanding of how much long-term savings can build up over time is rare. If one accepts that there is a benefit from this scheme, giving children first-hand experience of the satisfaction of seeing a small initial deposit grow slowly but steadily into a significant amount would go some way towards helping them to appreciate the benefit of the principle of saving. Other lessons may also be learnt; for example, that of the enormous effect that the interest rate can have on savings. It is currently fashionable for those on the government Benches to consider the effect of interest rates only on borrowers, ignoring the plight of pensioners and savers who have seen the return on their carefully stored money falling to nothing while knowing that the inflation that is sure to be coming will make future attacks on the value of their savings. That having been said, we will not oppose the regulations.