It did not take into account the deprecation of currency or inflation, meaning that if the trustees invested in stocks and shares they were at risk of losing money simply because of the falling value of the pound sterling.

[2] This was recognised by lawyers, who had been advising their clients to structure trusts in such a way as to allow their trustees to invest in wider areas than the Statutory Lists.

This came about under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, which allowed trustees to apply to the courts to widen their investment powers, a process that was expensive and slow.

In November 1960 a Bill based on that report was introduced in the House of Lords, where it was much scrutinised by solicitors and barristers (particularly at the Committee stage) owing to its complexity.

The second set included debentures in certain British companies and gilt-edged securities, with the trustee expected to seek written advice from a person he believed was qualified to give it before investing.

A 1997 paper by the Law Commission called it "overly cautious and restrictive", and suggested that some trusts were underperforming because of the difficulty of complying with the Act's provisions.