Battle over mystery account’s £400m

A BANK account set up 90 years ago by a mystery donor to pay off the national debt is at the centre of a court battle, as the Government seeks permission to unlock its £400million funds.

Nearly a century on from the fund being set up, the identity of the donor remains unknown and the fund untouched by the Government because of a quirk in the terms governing the money’s release. The terms of the bequest stipulated that it should be only used to pay off the entire national debt.

However, despite growing 800-fold in value since the original £500,000 donation, the fund has never been sufficient to clear all of the nation’s debt so it has remained locked in the specially created National Fund.

Jeremy Wright QC, the Attorney General, has applied to the High Court to ask for the terms of the trust to be amended so that the money can be released and “used to benefit the nation”.

The value of the fund has never grown above 0.066 per cent of the national debt – which currently stands at £1.7 trillion – however, the Charity Commission and trustees are keen to see the money used. While the donor’s identity remains a mystery, it has been suggested that they were inspired by Stanley Baldwin, the former Conservative prime minister, who, in 1919 as financial secretary to the Treasury, called on the rich to make donations to help pay off the debt accrued from the First World War.

In a statement Mr Wright said: “Almost 90 years ago an anonymous donor bequeathed money to the nation and yet we have not been able to put it to good use.

“We have been working with the Treasury, trustees and the Charity Commission to find a solution consistent with the donor’s original objectives of extinguishing the national debt.”

Mr Wright will be applying for the money to go towards the reduction of the national debt. The history of public donations to the national debt reaches far back into the early 19th century; Section 8 of the National Debt Act 1823 created a “Donations and Bequest Account” for public donations to paying off the national debt. The account is still in existence and in receipt of donations. In the last four years alone it has received more than £1million