Personal Savings

Andrew Rosindell
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Government have to encourage saving to reduce the credit deficit; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle
Since 1997, the Government have sought to support saving and asset ownership for all, from childhood, through working life and into retirement. The Government have introduced Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) to develop and extend the saving habit, which from April 2008 will be made simpler, more flexible and more generous. The Government have also introduced the Child Trust Fund, which will ensure that all children will hold a financial asset at the age of 18, and have piloted the Saving Gateway with feasibility work into the system requirements to enable wider introduction now being taken forward. Personal Accounts will enable individuals on low to medium incomes to save in a pension over their working lives.