Opinion: In my view - Scrapping CTFs is stupid

Tough decisions will have to be made. But even so, one of its first decisions - to scrap Child Trust Funds (CTFs) - is staggeringly short-sighted.

The idea behind CTFs was simple and radical: to enable the next generation to embark on their adult lives with the security of a financial asset that others take for granted. It was an attempt to narrow the startling wealth inequalities that have characterised this era.

Since CTFs were launched in 2002, they have encouraged parental saving at a time when saving has been in decline (three-quarters of parents have opened one); and through Government contributions, poorer children have been able to look forward to a pot of money to help them when they turn 18. Now this policy is to be killed in its infancy.

Unlike other aspects of the £6.2bn cutback, the end of CTFs cannot be presented as an efficiency saving or an attack on Government waste. Rather, it is a cut in investment in the future of our children.

The justification was that 'Government payments into the scheme are essentially being funded by public borrowing'. But as we don't have hypothecated taxes, the same could be said of all public spending.

The real reason is that this policy can only really prove its worth when its first recipients receive their payments on turning 18 - ten years from now. In other words, no one really feels the pain now and so public protests about its scrapping are likely to be muted.

It may seem that any attempt to reverse this decision is doomed to fail. Let's hope not. Here's an idea that might get the Government off the hook. When its stake in the banks is sold off, the Government should deposit a chunk of the cash into the CTF of each child, and double for poorer children - straightforward compensation to the next generation for footing the bill of the financial crash.