Social investment and Dormant Assets

Dormant Assets update – £87.5m allocation to social investment

• We have now concluded our six-week consultation on how best to use Dormant Assets to support the aims of the Community Enterprise Growth Plan (CEGP).
• We are now waiting for the Government’s Spending Direction to confirm the allocation of £87.5 million. Until then, we cannot finalise our Investment Policy or open for applications.
• When applications open, we will publish the final Investment Policy, application forms, and guidance, and notify everyone signed up for updates.
• Please note Access funds social investors and intermediaries, not charities or social enterprises directly. If you are a charity or social enterprise looking for social investment, visit Good Finance.

On 2 June the Government published its Dormant Assets Strategy, setting out an intention to allocate £87.5 million to Access to grow social investment in underserved places and communities, including: 

• At least £12.5 million earmarked to support youth-focused organisations
• £12 million of scale-up funding for a Black and Ethnically Minoritised-led social investment fund, Pathway Fund. 

Access will oversee this allocation of £87.5 million of Dormant Assets funding to social investment, working closely with partners to deliver on the Dormant Assets Strategy and the aspirations set out in the Community Enterprise Growth Plan (CEGP). 

The CEGP aims to increase investment in community enterprises and mission-driven businesses, particularly in the places and communities most affected by long-term economic decline. 

On 3 June, we published our draft Investment Approach, setting out how we proposed to use the £87.5m to contribute to the delivery of the CEGP. We invited feedback over a six-week consultation, which closed on 15 July. 

We heard detailed feedback from 75 organisations across the social investment market, the VCSE sector and other interested stakeholders. The broad range of views and perspectives was invaluable and you can read a summary of the feedback in our blog.

In the four weeks that followed the consultation, we carefully reviewed all of the feedback and produced: 

• a Post-consultation Report; and
• a draft Investment Policy, 

These were approved by the Access Board on 13 August and published on 18 August.

We are now waiting for the Government’s Spending Direction, which will formally commit the £87.5 million to Access. Until we receive this, we cannot finalise the Investment Policy or open for applications.

In the meantime, we are happy to have exploratory conversations with aspiring applicants, with the understanding that the Investment Policy may change once the Spending Direction is received.

Once applications open, we will publish:

• The final Investment Policy
• Application forms and guidance

We will also email everyone who has asked to be kept up to date when applications open.

Access is a wholesaler of grant subsidy into social investment funds and other initiatives. We do not make funding available to charities and social enterprises directly. If you are a charity or social enterprise looking for support or to find out more about social investment please visit Good Finance.