Quids in — Quids out: last week HM Treasury published its annual savings statistics, including their assessment of 827,000 unclaimed Child Trust Funds as at 5th April. Allowing for unilateral transfers into Junior ISAs by account providers and another six months, the current total is now very close to one million — over £2 billion in value. But the big challenge is to get CTF accounts delivered to their low-income owners, whose accounts represent 60% of this value. The Share Foundation has thus far linked over 145,000 applicants, but there's still a long way to go. Please read their annual report, also published last week. Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake

Published: Mon 28 September 2026