• Building on the unprecedented £750 million charity support package from government
• £200 million of funding distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund, open for bids from small charities on Friday

The Culture Secretary has announced today (Wednesday 20 May) that £150 million from dormant bank and building society accounts is to be unlocked to help charities, social enterprises and vulnerable individuals during the coronavirus outbreak.

This includes accelerating the release of £71 million of new funds from dormant accounts alongside £79 million already unlocked that will be repurposed to help charities’ coronavirus response and recovery.

The funding will support urgent work to tackle youth unemployment, expand access to emergency loans for civil society organisations and help improve the availability of fair, affordable credit to people in vulnerable circumstances.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said:

Charities and social enterprises are playing a vital role in our national effort against coronavirus.

This funding will support organisations that are at the heart of their communities, building on our unprecedented package of financial support for the voluntary sector.

Through our proposals to further expand the dormant assets scheme, we want to unlock hundreds of millions more pounds for good causes, while keeping customer protection at the heart of the programme.

Of the £150 million:

• £10 million will be brought forward for the Youth Futures Foundation to help organisations who support unemployed, disadvantaged young people across the country into jobs. They will be launching an Emergency Levelling Up Youth Fund to support young people from hardest hit communities; and will expand their Development and Impact grants programme to rapidly increase youth employment provisions.

• £45 million will be deployed by Big Society Capital to allow better access to investment including emergency loans for charities, social enterprises and some small businesses facing cash-flow problems and disruption to their trading following the coronavirus outbreak.

• The demand for affordable credit is expected to rise substantially in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Fair4All Finance will use £65 million to support affordable credit providers to increase access to fair, appropriate products and services for those struggling financially, providing them with an alternative to high cost loans. This includes an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme and other initiatives for those in financially vulnerable circumstances.

• £30 million will go to Access – The Foundation for Social Investment who will support social enterprises helping people in vulnerable circumstances. They will make up to £10 million available for emergency support through social lenders while also developing a wider programme of recovery finance for the social sector. Both initiatives will work alongside Big Society Capital and other social lenders, and will enable a wider range of organisations to access affordable and flexible finance.

Since its launch in 2011, 30 firms – including all major high street banks – have voluntarily transferred funds from accounts that have been inactive for 15 years into the scheme and so far over £600 million has been distributed to good causes.

In addition to this funding, following the Chancellor’s announcement of an unprecedented £750 million package of support for frontline charities during the coronavirus outbreak, the “Coronavirus Community Support Fund” distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund will open for applications this Friday, 22nd May.

£200 million worth of grants will be available for organisations who are supporting people and communities experiencing disproportionate challenges and difficulty during the pandemic, and those that provide services and support for vulnerable people and have seen an increase in demand or have lost income. Further funding will be committed and informed by emerging priorities, as the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups and charities is understood.

Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund will start to reach frontline organisations within a few weeks. Applications to the Fund will be handled through The National Lottery Community Fund’s well-established funding infrastructure, which they use to deliver around £500 million of grants to local organisations each year. A joint panel set up by DCMS and NLCF will advise on distribution of funding.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said:

This funding will provide vital support to some of the most vulnerable in our society, and comes on top of the unprecedented package we have put in place to help individuals, businesses and the economy through this difficult time.

“Thank you to the banks and building societies for taking part so we can continue to support so many good causes. I look forward to the potentially millions more we can unlock for good causes through expanding the Dormant Assets Scheme.”

The Government is currently consulting on expanding the dormant assets scheme to include a range of financial assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors. The expansion has the potential to bring billions more pounds into the scheme.

Consumer protection will remain at the heart of an expanded scheme, with the priority continuing to be reuniting customers with their money. Only where this is not possible, following repeated, unsuccessful efforts to locate the asset owner, will funds be released to support good causes.

If at a later date a consumer discovers that they had a dormant account and their funds have been transferred into the scheme, they will also always be able reclaim the full amount owed to them.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Read further information on how organisations can apply to the £750 million charity support package

Part of the package includes £370 million for small and medium-sized charities, made up of £310 million in England and £60 million to devolved administrations. In England, £200 million will be distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund. DCMS will review learning from the early distribution of the £200 million fund and evolving picture on the impact of the pandemic to inform decisions on the distribution of the remaining £110 million, so that funding is best utilised to address emerging priorities and opportunities.

There are 30 participating firms in the dormant assets scheme, including HSBC Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland, The Co-operative Bank plc.

The definition of a dormant bank or building society account is in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008: an account is ‘dormant’ at a particular time if the account has been open throughout the period of 15 years ending at that time, but during that period no transactions have been carried out in relation to the account by or on the instructions of the holder of the account.

The government is consulting on expanding the scheme to the following sectors:

• Insurance and pensions
• Investment and wealth management
• Securities

You can read more information on the consultation on expanding the dormant assets scheme which closes on 16 July 2020.

Assets proposed to be within the scope of the expansion include:

• Dormant insurance policy proceeds
• Dormant share proceeds
• Dormant unit proceeds
• Dormant distributions and proceeds from investment assets
• Other dormant security distributions

The public consultation follows two industry-led reports. The 2019 report The Dormant Assets Scheme: A Blueprint for Expansion which builds on a 2017 report from the Commission on Dormant Assets

Under the scheme, funds are held by Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL). RFL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and holds sufficient money to cover any reclaims while distributing the surplus to The National Lottery Community Fund for social or environmental initiatives across the UK.

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Homes England has commissioned its own research study into modern methods of construction (MMC) to drive innovation in the construction industry.

As part of the government housing agency’s strategic objective to improve construction productivity and encourage the uptake of MMC in housing delivery, a series of Homes England’s own sites will participate in the study, delivering ambitious levels of MMC which are higher than the market norm.

Monitoring the construction of around 1,500 homes at sites across country over several years, the study will test the performance of different types of MMC to provide long-term, in-depth and verifiable data so that informed decisions about emerging construction technologies can be made.

Sites confirmed as being part of the study so far include:

Northstowe Phase 2a, a 406-home 100% MMC neighbourhood in Cambridgeshire being brought forward by House by Urban Splash; the partnership between Urban Splash, Sekisui House and Homes England. The modular homes will be manufactured in the House factory in Alfreton, East Midlands.

Spencer’s Park in Hemel Hempstead, a 600-home development by Countryside, where all the homes will be closed panel timber frame units.

The 87-home York Road development being delivered by Vistry Partnerships in Birmingham. The homes will be built using a timber frame closed panel system, delivered to site for assembly.

The study will also monitor sites in Swindon, Warrington, Newcastle and Milton Keynes, with details to be announced in the coming months.

Covering a range of offsite and modular building techniques, modern methods of construction have the potential to be significantly more productive than traditional building methods; allowing homes to be built more quickly, addressing labour and skills shortages and improving the quality, consistency and energy efficiency of newly built homes.

The research will explore a range of themes, including cost and pace of build compared to traditional building methods, skills required, safety performance, snagging and defect issues, construction wastage, energy efficiency performance and post-occupation performance. The study will also seek to learn lessons about how these technologies might be improved upon in future and give confidence to the industry to encourage more widespread use of MMC technologies.

Atkins and Faithful+Gould have been appointed as the agency’s research and development partner for the project. Working with the Building Research Establishment and University College London, they will collect and monitor data from the developers and produce annual updates on the research findings, before a final report is published at the end of the build programme.

Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said:

“Building the homes the country needs is a priority for the Government and modern methods of construction have enormous potential to not only accelerate this work but to deliver better quality homes too.

“I am delighted that this research will bring together some of the most promising housebuilding innovations around today. Such an extensive and practical study will no doubt inform housebuilding for years to come.”

Nick Walkley, Chief Executive of Homes England, said:

“If we are to deliver homes at the scale, pace and quality the country needs, we have to seriously shake up how we build homes in England. This is at the very heart of our mission and it means embracing new technologies like modern methods of construction.

“Despite the impact of coronavirus being felt across the housebuilding sector, Homes England is open for business. We can be certain that the demand for high-quality homes will remain and concerns about labour supply or quality will not go away.

“Now more than ever, we recognise that more needs to be done to share learning and build confidence in MMC. This large-scale, long-term and in-depth research project will provide the sector with the critical evidence it needs to make informed decisions about MMC and deliver better homes faster.”

Jon Swan, Client Director for Homes England, Atkins, said:

“With UK-wide expertise in the housing sector, we have an appetite for doing things differently. Relying on a solutions-based approach, our team will gather comparable and verifiable data to evaluate how MMC could be used to solve the construction industry’s flatlining productivity and other key challenges within the UK’s residential sector.

“The first step will be to establish a benchmark approach to measuring the impact of MMC. This consistency in analysis across the industry will lead to an ever-growing data set on MMC, with the potential to inform and improve the housing industry for years to come.”

Andrew Prickett, Head of Residential, Faithful+Gould, said:

“The UK is currently tasked with the target of delivering 300,000 new homes every year. Through this landmark initiative, we will collect and analyse a substantial body of data to quantify the performance of modern methods of construction and bring clarity to the housing industry on the benefits of choosing this technology. Working closely with Homes England, this is a great opportunity to explore house building best practice and find ways to make housing safer, more affordable and more efficient to build.”

ENDS

About Homes England

Homes England is the Government’s housing accelerator. We have the appetite, influence, expertise and resources to drive positive market change. By releasing more land to developers who want to make a difference and investing in infrastructure, we are making possible the new homes the country needs.

We welcome partners who share our ambition to challenge the traditional norms and build better homes faster.

About Atkins

Atkins is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, employing over 18,300 people across the UK, North America, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe. We build long-term trusted partnerships to create a world where lives are enriched through the implementation of our ideas. You can view Atkins’ recent projects here.

About Faithful+Gould

Faithful+Gould is a world leading integrated project and program management consultancy. Operating at the forefront of our industry for 70 years, our integrated approach delivers business improvements and efficiencies across every environment and every sector. Faithful+Gould is a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group.

About SNC-Lavalin

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world. SNC-Lavalin connects people, technology and data to help shape and deliver world-leading concepts and projects, while offering comprehensive innovative solutions across the asset lifecycle. Our expertise is wide-ranging — consulting & advisory, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and sustaining capital – and delivered to clients in four strategic sectors: EDPM (engineering, design and project management), Infrastructure, Nuclear and Resources, supported by Capital. People. Drive. Results.

For more information:

Homes England

020 7874 8262

media@homesengland.gov.uk

Atkins

Jessica Roberts, PR & Digital Communications Manager, UK & Europe

01454 663403

Jessica.Roberts@atkinsglobal.com

UK to work with African Union to slow spread of coronavirus in Africa

• £20 million to help African response to coronavirus
• Support to help train African health experts to tackle pandemic in Africa

The UK will invest up to £20 million in the African Union’s new ‘African Union Covid19 Response Fund’ to tackle coronavirus and save lives.

This makes the UK the largest national donor to the fund, which was announced by Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) and President of the Republic of South Africa last month. It will support African leaders and technical experts to slow the spread of coronavirus and save lives in Africa and worldwide.

The fund will tackle the pandemic by recruiting African health experts and deploying them where they are needed most, strengthening global tracking of the pandemic, combatting potentially harmful misinformation, providing specialist coronavirus training for health workers and making information about the virus more accessible to the public.

Announcing the funding today, International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

“As the UK faces its biggest peacetime challenge in tackling coronavirus, it’s never been more important to work with our partners in Africa to fight disease.

“No one is safe until we are all safe and this new funding and support for African leadership will help protect us all – in the UK, Africa and around the world – from further spread of the virus.”

The announcement follows calls between Minister for Africa James Duddridge, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry Albert Muchanga and AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira El-Fadil in which they discussed the risks Africa faces from the pandemic and how the UK is working with partners on the continent to tackle these shared global issues.

This new support for the African Union comes after the UK has already pledged over $900 million to the international fight against coronavirus. The UK is also using its existing aid programmes to help vulnerable countries in Africa to strengthen their health systems. It also comes ahead of the UK hosting the virtual Global Vaccine Summit on 4th June, to secure future funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has already saved the lives of millions of children in Africa from infectious diseases

Many countries on the continent are beginning to see exponential increases in coronavirus case numbers, presenting a severe risk to fragile healthcare systems. The high prevalence of HIV, malnutrition and other illnesses in parts of Africa may also worsen the impact of the virus. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are on average just 2 doctors for every 10,000 people, compared to 28 per 10,000 in the UK.

If healthcare systems become overwhelmed, the worldwide spread of the virus will be difficult to slow, risking new waves of infection. The UK’s contribution to the Covid19 Response Fund will prevent this by working in partnership with the AU to help fight the virus, strengthen healthcare systems and save lives in the AU’s 55 member states.

Today’s announcement brings the total UK aid contribution to fighting coronavirus to up to £764 million ($935.6 million). This money is helping to find a vaccine, providing vital humanitarian relief, feeding the world’s poorest people, strengthening global healthcare systems and managing the risk of a global economic downturn.

Notes to editors

• The contribution to the AU African Union Covid19 Response Fund will support the implementation of the AU’s continental strategy to: (1) coordinate the efforts of AU member states and multilateral and international partners in responding to the outbreak in Africa; and (2) promote an evidence-based approach for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment and control of coronavirus in Africa.
• Aspects of the strategy supported by the fund will include: the recruitment and deployment of African experts, through Africa CDC’s African Voluntary Health Corps (a roster of 800 skilled volunteers), tracking the outbreak through effective screening, contact tracing and information management; combatting misinformation; creating an online community of practice with weekly webinars for African clinicians; publishing technical guidelines in all AU languages; creating an Africa Taskforce for coronavirus to co-ordinate response activity, and convening AU member states to agree a continental response.
• The UN Economic Commission for Africa has warned that over 300,000 Africans could lose their lives due to coronavirus.