BIG to distribute dormant accounts cash in UK?

The devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will determine the priorities for distribution of unclaimed assets in their own countries, which may differ from those for England.

Funding from unclaimed assets could allow over 700 new places for young people to be built in England according to a consultation document published by Economic Secretary Ed Balls and Minister for the Third Sector Ed Miliband today.

Unclaimed assets would be distributed and reinvested in the community to fund youth services, financial capability and inclusion, and social investment, the document proposes. Youth services that could benefit from this include sport facilities, youth clubs, places to participate in activities such as dance and drama, and mobile youth centres.

The consultation document proposes using The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to distribute the unclaimed assets. BIG has a UK-wide distribution infrastructure in place, the capacity to handle assets on this scale, extensive experience of delivering community programmes with emphasis on young people, and the know-how to distribute funding through a different range of organisations. Using BIG is an efficient way to distribute the assets and will limit spending on administration, meaning that as much money as possible reaches the front line.

The Government also intends to use a proportion of the available assets to develop the social investment market and deliver more sustainable funding to social enterprises, charities and community groups. The Government will also consult on a specialist body to distribute the funds for social investment, which will be allocated via BIG.

Responses to the joint HM Treasury - Cabinet Office review of the future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration revealed that access to appropriate finance is often the most significant issue of concern for third sector organisations.

The consultation on the most effective way to distribute unclaimed assets follows on from the March 2007 consultation on the operations of the unclaimed assets scheme.

Enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558, or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

• The consultation document "Unclaimed Assets distribution mechanism: a consultation" and other Treasury publications and information are available on the at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.