Consultation on the English Portion of Dormant Assets Funding: Government Response

Stuart Andrew Excerpts

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)]

Today, the Government have announced that community wealth funds will join youth, financial inclusion, and social investment wholesalers as the named purposes of the English portion of dormant assets funding. This follows a public consultation last year, where we heard views from over 3,300 people, organisations, and financial services industry participants. The responses were clear that we must build on the successes of the scheme so far and ensure it continues to deliver the greatest impact possible.

To date, the money has been put to work tackling barriers to employment for disadvantaged young people; supporting households to get out of problem debt; and investing in charities and social enterprises across the country. Soon, a community wealth fund will join these three causes and empower local people to make decisions on how best to improve their neighbourhoods.

We have chosen these causes because the consultation made clear the strength of support for each of them and because we believe they strike the right balance between amplifying the progress that has been made to date while driving forward new innovations. This will allow us to build upon the solid foundations to develop an expanded scheme that is not only right for now, but also for the years ahead.

The dormant assets scheme continues to be underpinned by the voluntary participation of financial services firms. Its expansion through primary legislation last year marked the beginning of a long-term programme of work to unlock an estimated £880 million more across the UK over time. With £738 million of this to be apportioned for England, now is the right time to ensure the current impact of the scheme is amplified and to focus on the careful design of a community wealth fund set to last decades.

A community wealth fund is a pot of money distributed to communities in deprived areas and released over a long time period. In line with the community wealth fund’s focus on giving more decision-making power to people, we will soon launch a technical consultation on the design of this important new initiative to ensure the public’s views are embedded into the way it will operate in practice. Once Parliament has passed secondary legislation to include this new cause, eligible communities will be empowered to make decisions on how best to use the money to improve their areas.

The Government have also announced today that some of the most vulnerable people in society will be given additional support to deal with the cost of living, as £76 million from the current scheme is unlocked. Beneficiaries include no-interest loans for 69,000 individuals struggling with finances via a £45 million grant distributed by Fair4AII Finance, and £31 million of investment for hundreds of charities and social enterprises, distributed by social investors Access and Big Society Capital. This will be used to retrofit premises with cleaner, greener and more efficient energy systems, such as new boilers or heat pumps, solar panels, and new lighting.

The dormant assets scheme is a perfect example of what happens when the public, private, and civil society sectors come together, in partnership, to drive change and support those most in need. The Government look forward to continuing this important work to make a real difference to people’s lives across the country.

[HCWS611]