INTRODUCTION

This procedure outlines how child trust funds Junior ISA savings for young people are managed. Child Savings can only be reimbursed to Young People after they have turned 18. All savings should be reclaimed from Foster carers at the end of a placement and given to the CPH Savings lead. Savings must not be taken from one foster carer and given to the next foster carer. This is to ensure that Child Savings are not lost, misplaced or used by Foster carers

Young person
  1. YP must contact their Social Worker when they turn 18
  2. Informs the Placements Team and Duty Fostering Social Worker if a change of placement has been requested so that the correct procedure is followed
  3. Complete a PIF and Payment Form for payments to the foster carer
/ Social worker
  1. SW send request to
  2. submit a Payment Request Form (colloquially known as a ‘Pink’) authorised by their manager to their YP Savings representative

Business Support
  1. Checks the details of the pinkform and verify YP’s account number via bank statements, cheque book or bank card
  2. Ad Hoc payment request will be compiled and it will be sent to the Ad-Hoc team who will make payment within 3 weeks

Child Trust Fund

The Child Trust Fund was brought in by the Labour Party in 2005 with the aim of ensuring every child has savings at the age of 18.

Eligibility

The Young Person is entitled to a Child Trust Fund, if all of the following criteria applied:

  • they were born between 1st September 2002 2nd January 2011
  • they were looked after by a Local Authority before 3rd April 2011
  • the YP was living in the UK
  • they weren’t subject to any immigration restrictions or that these restrictions were no longer active before 3rd April 2011

The Child Trust Fund contributions received from the Government before 2007 are held in the Child’s GL Cost Code Account. When the YP turns 18, they are eligible for a savings reimbursement. Savings reimbursement payments are not automatically processed, so a request must be sent to by the Social Worker/Team Business Support. The procedure is below.

Once they are 18, the YP must contact their Social Worker, who will interact with to check the the status of the Child Trust Fund and its balance. The Social Worker must then submit a Payment Request Form (colloquially known as a ‘Pink’) authorised by their manager to their YP Savings representative.

On the form, the Social Worker should include the YP’s bank account, which will have to be verified with a bank statement, deposit/cheque book or bank card (with sort code and account on the front).

Once the form has been checked, an Ad Hoc payment request will be compiled and it will be sent to the Ad-Hoc team who will make payment within 3 weeks.

If the YP meets all the above criteria but is not listed on Croydon’s General ledger, then the whereabouts and information on the Trust Fund can be obtained from HMRC. Please make a request to . The CPH Savings lead will then contact HMRC and obtain the information. Some extra information in relation to this is below:

Accounts set up for looked after children

Some CLA/LAC children have a Child Trust Fund (CTF) account set up on their behalf. The Official Solicitor acts as the registered contact for these accounts.

How the account is managed

The Official Solicitor manages the CTF account in the interests of the child and will: write to the child when they take control of the account change the type of CTF account and provider if necessary and write to the child to explain why the change was made send the child an account statement once a year

They’ll manage the account until the child turns 16 or until someone takes parental responsibility for the child, eg. through adoption.

Take over the management of an account – Information for Adopters only

Contact the Official Solicitor if you’re taking parental responsibility for a child and want to manage their CTF account.

You’ll need to provide evidence of parental responsibility, eg adoption certificate.

You’ll get a letter confirming that you can take over responsibility for the account.

You should show the CTF provider the letter to update the account to say you’re the registered contact.

Official Solicitor
Telephone: 020 3681 2753
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Victory House
30-34 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6EX

When a looked after child turns 16

The Official Solicitor will write to the child about 2 months before their 16th birthday, telling them how to become the registered contact for the account.

If they choose to take control of the account, they can: start managing it when they turn 16 & withdraw money from their 18th birthday

Junior ISA

The Junior ISA is administrated by the Share Foundation on behalf of the Department of Education. The Share Foundation is a registered charity and their aim is to enable Young people to leave care at 18 and have the resources and knowledge to reach their potential. This is provided in various ways (not only in regards to savings) and this can be found at

Below is a chart describing the way the Share Foundation undertake the duties of Junior ISA administration. If you require any more info in regards to this or more, please either liaise with your Croydon contact for YP savings on .

Eligibility

For a Young Person to be eligible for a Junior ISA they must:

  • Be born before 1st September 2002 or after 2nd January 2011
  • Have been in care for at least 12 months uninterrupted
  • Under the age of 18 (on application).

The Share Foundation will open the accounts with an initial Government contribution of £200.

The opening of Junior ISA’s – Process undertaken by Business Support

An agreement has been made that updated data regarding LAC children will be sent to the Share Foundation every month. This report is constructed by the Children’s Payment Hub (CPH) as a .csv (comma separated value) spreadsheet which is then delivered to the Share Foundation.

This is an example of the column headers that are used:

LAReference / ChildFirstName / ChildSurname / ChildGender / ChildDOB / UKResident / DateEnteredCare / ChildStatus

As it is a spreadsheet which is constantly updated, it must include:

  • the children notified to the Share Foundation in the previous download
  • Plus any new qualifiers for a Junior ISA
  • minus any children who have been previously notified to the Share Foundation as having left care (children leaving care should have the reason for leaving entered in the CHILDSTATUS column)
  • Any YP who has turned 18 must feature on one subsequent submission before they are removed from the list.

If these criteria are not met an exception report (which identifies any missing values) is generated by the Share Foundation and they will enquire as to the situation of the YP/YP’s and possibly ask for a re-submission of the report with corrections.

The Share foundation provides us with a valuation report every quarter that has been cleansed of any sensitive data (YP’s name, DOB etc), the only identifying factor will be the CRS number. This will be then sent to the Performance team, so they can repopulate the spreadsheet with the YP’s relevant information (YP’s name, date of birth, Supervising Social Worker, team etc).

Once the spreadsheet has been finalised (The file name will usually start with ‘ECROLB’ and contain the month and year it was generated), it will be disseminated to Business Support Coordinators, Social workers and Social Work Managers of the relevant teams. The Valuation spreadsheet will contain the Share Foundation JISA reference number (A unique identifier) and the current total of the YP’s JISA (as of the month in the file name).

Contribution

Carers can contribute directly to the Share Foundation using the form included at the end of this manual. This contribution can be a one-off payment or a reoccurring direct debit.

When the child becomes 16?

When the child becomes 16 we will receive a letter from the Share Foundation that must be given to the YP. This letter includes a form that is used to pass partial responsibility of the JISA to the YP, allowing the child to contribute to their own Savings and choose what type of JISA their money resides in (Interest, Investment, Shariah-Compliant etc). However, they cannot withdraw any funds or close their ISA.

When the Child becomes 18?

When the YP becomes 18, they have entitled to full control of their savings and have 3 possible options on the future of these savings:

  1. Withdraw the funds and close the account.
  2. Withdraw a partial amount of money from the JISA & then convert it into an Adult ISA.
  3. Leave the account open and it will automatically transfer into an Adult ISA.

The Maturity Option form must be sent with a form of identification, such as:

  • Birth Certificate
  • Passport
  • Driving Licence
  • Home Office Identity Card

Originals are requested, but scans endorsed by the YP’s Social Worker or the CPH Team will suffice.

As of April 2015, all JISA Maturity Option Forms are generated by the Share Foundation and blank forms are not accepted. All JISA Maturity Option Forms are indexed to the YP’s CRS record when they have been received by the CPH Team.

Once the form has been fully completed, it be indexed to CRS by the YP’s Social Worker and then sent to the Share Foundation at: The Children’s ISA, 1 Lowry Plaza, The Quays, Salford, M50 3UB.

Once the Share Foundation has received the form they will undertake the necessary checks and process the form. Once they have processed the form, they will reimburse the YP (via the option selected on the form). This will either be a cheque or a direct bank transfer.

Croydon GL Savings

Croydon GL Savings (formerly ‘Savings Z-codes’) are YP savings that are kept in Croydon’s General Ledger until the YP has turned 18.

When savings cheques for YP’s are sent to LBC by carers and providers and are addressed to ‘London Borough of Croydon’ (or its variants) they must be cashed into a savings cost code that is unique to the YP.

All cheques must be given to the YP Savings representative in CPH who will then sort them and process them.

If the cheque is in the YP’s name and the YP has a JISA:

  • The cheque will be scanned along with a contribution form and indexed to CRS
  • The cheque and contribution form will be sent to the Share Foundation

If the cheque is in the YP’s name and the YP has a CTF:

  • The cheque must be returned to the carer or provider and be reissued to LBC

When the cheque is made out to LBC, then it must be ascertained whether they have a Croydon GL Savings cost code. If they do not have a GL Savings cost code then a request will be made to Corporate Finance who will generate a new cost code.

Once a GL cost code account has been identified, the cheque will be scanned with a completed cheque deposit form by the CPH team.

The YP savings representative can give updates to Social Workers about a Child’s savings but the child will only have access to these after they turn 18.

When the Child becomes 18?

When a child is 18 they have full access to the funds in their Croydon GL Savings. Once they are 18, their Social Worker will have to contact their YP Savings representative to check if they have a GL Savings cost code and the status of its balance. The Social Worker/Business Support must then submit a Payment Request Form (colloquially known as a ‘Pink’) authorised by their manager to their YP Savings representative. Please note that reimbursement is not automatic and must be requested.

On the form, the Social Worker should include the YP’s bank account, which will have to be verified with a bank statement, deposit/cheque book or bank card (with sort code and account on the front).

Once the form has been checked, an Ad Hoc payment request will be compiled (this involves gathering various pieces of supporting documentation to satisfy the Ad Hoc Team’s criteria complying with Financial Governance). The whole process from start to finish can take up to 2 months, if the correct information is provided. Therefore, it is advised for the Social Worker/Independent Reviewing Officer/Business Support to make requests up to a month before the YP turns 18.

What if the YP is already 18+ and we receive a savings cheque?

If the YP is already 18+ and the cheque is in the YP’s name, then a copy of the cheque is made and must be signed by the YP to confirm their reception. This is then indexed to CRS.

If the YP is 18+ and the cheque is addressed to the London Borough of Croydon (or LBC, Croydon Borough Council etc) then it must be checked whether they have a Croydon GL Savings cost code, if they do then the money can be deposited in the way above and then released to the YP as stated above.

If the YP does not have a GL Savings Cost Code account, one will be requested and payments shall be made above in the same process as the section ‘When the Child becomes 18?’. Again, this can take up to 2 months, from request date, start to finish.

Social Workers should be proactive in reclaiming YP savings before the YP turns 18 and leaves care, this is due to the time it takes to complete the stages of process; eg. cheque clearing, GL savings account raising and the eventual reimbursement procedure.

Social workers should also keep the YP informed during every stage of the process, but all information must be confirmed with the YP Savings representative before an update is given to the YP. This will eliminate any sources of confusion and promote more understanding from the YP of the process.

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