The child trust fund (CTF) scheme should be simplified in order to encourage proactivity in parents, according to Family Investments.

It was recently revealed that 28 per cent of parents who were eligible for a £250 CTF voucher – by dint of having a child born on or after September 1st 2002 – have not yet invested the money in the account of their choice, thus meaning that HM Revenue & Customs will instead automatically allocate them an account.

The sheer range of possible choices in the market is one factor which particularly inhibits parents, according to Miles Bingham of Family Investments – who also said that a shorter expiry time for the vouchers might increase parents' senses of urgency.

He said: "It becomes quite a hassle. You have to question the mechanics of a system where you can’t get people to claim £250 for their own child.

"We would shrink the voucher lifespan to three months,"

Mr Bingham added that some parents seem to have "looked at it, found it confusing and put it off".

Family Investments, arguably the market leader for CTFs, has opened 280,000 such accounts since they became available.