Government confirms future funding for financial inclusion, as well as £45m this year to tackle the increased cost of living

Future financial inclusion funding from dormant assets

Following consultation on the future of dormant assets funding, we’re delighted that the government have today confirmed that financial inclusion will remain a named cause of the expanded Dormant Assets Scheme. 

This means future funding from the scheme will continue to help people in vulnerable circumstances access fair financial products and services.

Over 3,000 organisations responded to the government’s consultation on how to direct this funding. With special thanks to our stakeholder community, financial inclusion was supported by over 70% of those who responded to the consultation. 

We were also pleased to see strong support for financial inclusion from the financial services industry, where almost 100% of respondents strongly agreed financial inclusion should continue to receive dormant assets funding.

The decision by the government to keep financial inclusion as a cause will enable crucial funding for years to come.

£45m to tackle the cost of living increases

Alongside this, Fair4All Finance has been asked to deploy an extra £45m from the existing scheme to support people in financially vulnerable circumstances with the rising cost of living. This will allow us to scale up our work with community finance providers on the availability of affordable credit, including preserving capacity through grants, and to expand access to no interest loans and affordable consolidation loans.

Households are already borrowing more and saving less as the cost of living increases. It’s more important than ever that people have access to fair financial products to support their resilience.

We are starting work straight away to expand these programmes to get people the support they need as soon as possible. Where the programmes require new design, we will be working specifically with the community finance sector over the coming weeks and months to inform our approach.

‘We’ve already seen the vital impact dormant assets funding can have and we’re delighted that financial inclusion will remain a cause of the expanded scheme. We’re also grateful to receive an extra £45m in funding from the existing scheme. This allows us to make a real difference right now and supports the longer term change needed to establish a financial services market that serves everyone.

‘We’re grateful to everyone who responded to the consultation and offered their perspectives on the future direction of dormant assets spending. We’re really pleased the financial services industry was unanimous in their support for financial inclusion in the consultation. Without this support our work would not be possible.

‘17.5m people are in financially vulnerable circumstances. Given the size of this issue, long term funding and collaboration is crucial to ensure that people have access to the financial products and services they need. We look forward to continuing to work with all our partners in the fight against financial exclusion. Together we can keep making a difference to the lives of millions of people.’

Sacha Romanovitch OBE, CEO of Fair4All Finance

Alongside financial inclusion, youth and social investment remain named causes of the expanded Dormant Assets Scheme. A new cause of community wealth funds has also been announced. The government will publish a statement of intent later in the year, outlining intended allocations between the four causes.

You can read the government’s full response to the consultation here.

And here’s our original response to the consultation for more background on the future funding need. 

For any press queries, please contact James@fair4allfinance.org.uk.