Pretty sure kids can't have a GIA in their own names - for my kids I had to open the GIAs in my name and they are named beneficiaries (Bear trust). Then I transfer out the JISA limit each year as I'd rather the money was firmly within their own names, and believe it's better for them to build up their non-taxable pot via the JISA.

So children dont have a CGT allowance like they have an income tax allowance

ah i didnt realise children have their own CGT allowance as well. Will look into that. a key challenge when making such decisions is people like me who have some cash but dont quite know whether we will need the cash between now and the next 20 years for the child or indeed other things (paying mortgage if something goes wrong) so its not just about denying access to the money for the child when they hit 18. unless you've got the mortgage paid for and things like school fees (if they arise) its tricky to lock away significant sums of money for most people even if well above the median household income/wealth

Same here, although I guess my circumstances are different in that the money has already been gifted to my kids, so is absolutely theirs. Which probably explains why I dislike the GIAs so much, as they put the money back under my name, and I'm always worried someone will wrongly attribute that money to me, when its absolutely not mine, it's the kids' completely.

But I can see the difference, and why people address things differently, between money that has already been given to the children (and is theirs), and money that is being saved with the view that it would be nice to give to the kids at some point provided it's not required for other family costs in the meantime.