TORIES BREAK PROMISE TO POOREST CHILDREN

The Government has recently announced that it plans to scrap the Child Trust Fund, which was established in 2002 to help families save for their children’s future.

The plans to cut Child Trust Funds are part of the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition’s cuts of £6.2 billion this year.

During the election campaign, the Conservatives promised to keep the Child Trust Fund for the poorest one third of families and for families with disabled children – but they have broken this promise and chosen to scrap it entirely.

All of the 5,600 babies who are born every year at the Derby Royal Hospital currently have a Child Trust Fund account opened for them and a top-up payment at age seven. Families can also make their own payments into the account, which the child will be able to access when they are 18.

But from next year, the Con/Dem coalition Government has announced that the Child Trust Fund will be scrapped, so no more children in Derby will benefit from it – and children under the age of seven will get no more government top-up payments.

I'm proud that Labour introduced the Child Trust Fund and it’s an outrageous move scrap this scheme, particularly for the poorest families who need it the most.

The government should be encouraging more saving in the years ahead, which is why families need more support and encouragement to save for their children's future, not less.

It gives me no pleasure to see that my warnings about the implications of a Tory government propped up by the Liberal Democrats are already coming true.

Families in Derby are starting to find out what it means to have a Government that’s not on their side.