Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, has revealed that children under the care of Local Authorities in Wales are to benefit from a further improved Child Trust Fund Reimbursement scheme as a result of additional funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Intended to encourage local authorities to contribute to the Child Trust Funds (CTF) of children that they are responsible for - the Assembly Government has agreed to top up payments to local authorities from £50 per year per child to £100 per year per child.

In addition, the UK Government has introduced a scheme to top up the CTF accounts of all children looked after in the UK for a year or more since 1 April 2007 by £100 per year per child. WAG has agreed to administer the scheme in Wales and will receive the necessary funding from the UK Government.

The Welsh and UK schemes will be combined and as a consequence Local Authorities in Wales will now be reimbursed to provide children looked after for a year or more since 1 April 2007 with an annual top up of £200 – compared to £100 in the rest of the UK.

It is estimated that under the revised eligibility criteria 500 children will benefit from the scheme in 2008/09 rising to 640 in 2009/10 and 770 in 2010/11 at a cost to the Welsh Assembly Government of £50,000, £64,000 and £77,000 respectively. The UK Government's contribution will mirror the Welsh Assembly Government’s contribution.