MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that around 42% of eligible 18-20 year olds have not claimed the savings in their matured accounts, despite the amount being over £1.7bn.

Following a ‘failure in long-term planning’ by HMRC, the report also warned the amount of financial institutions profiting from it, as providers continue to charge fees for passively managing CTF accounts.

Providers can charge fees up to a cap of 1.5% per year on ‘stakeholder’ accounts, which equates to nearly £30 per year on a typical account and up to £100m a year across all accounts.

Some are making even more money in other ways, with around 1.3m CTFs not being subject to the cap on fees.