Written by:
Dr Clare Mills
Article read time:
1 minutes
Director of Policy and Communications, Charity Finance Group
Clare leads CFG’s Policy & Communications Team having spent her career in a range of policy, political and communications roles.
Clare has a degree in Politics from Stirling University and a PhD from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She is a Chartered PR Practitioner and Member of the CIPR and has a long track record of volunteering. When she’s not working she can be found outside on her bike, running, walking or pretending the sea is not that cold, really.
Following CFG's response to the government's consultation on dormant assets, Clare Mills urges others to respond as the deadline looms.
There are just a few days left to respond to the government’s consultation, to gather views on the broad social or environmental purposes of the English portion of dormant assets funding.
The deadline for submissions is 11.45pm on Sunday 9 October.
The public consultation follows the Dormant Assets Act 2022. This Act expanded the Dormant Assets Scheme into a wider range of financial products and assets, potentially unlocking around £880 million for charitable purposes across the UK, £738 million of which will be made available for England over time.
Charity Finance Group (CFG) has responded to the consultation.
“Our response supports two collaborations across the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector,” said Clare Mills, Director of Policy and Communications at CFG.
“We’re backing calls for the creation of a community wealth fund which would provide long-term funding over 5-10 years, giving organisations stability to bring about change in their communities.
"We want to see community-led decision making which will help build more confident and capable communities, with neighbourhood investment at a hyperlocal level. Dormant assets invested in a community wealth fund could lead to a huge amount of impact.
“We also want to see some of the dormant assets funding used for the community enterprise growth plan. This would invest funds from dormant assets in community-based businesses, social enterprises and trading charities taking entrepreneurial approaches to tackling social problems.
"Investment could unlock matched private capital, doubling the amount available to communities, and multiplying its impact. By using loans which are repaid, funds are recycled and go even further.
“The expansion of the dormant assets scheme is a great opportunity to bring much-needed funding into the charitable sector and generate positive change for our communities.”
Additional links:
Community Wealth Fund and Dormant Assets
https://communitywealthfund.org.uk/dormant-assets-consultation-how-to-respond/
Community Enterprise Growth Plan
https://access-socialinvestment.org.uk/blog/the-dormant-assets-consultation-why-it-matters-and-how-to-respond/