The British government will unlock £ 150 million in bank accounts that its owners have ignored and reuse them to support social enterprises and charities working during the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street conference on Wednesday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he would speed up the release of £ 71 million in new funds from dormant bank accounts as well as £ 79 million sterling already unlocked to help charities fight the pandemic.
Inactive accounts are defined as those that have not been touched for 15 years. Since the launch of the inactive assets regime in 2011, 30 banking institutions have voluntarily transferred funds from inactive accounts. These include some of the country’s largest banks, such as HSBC
HSBC,
,
HSBC,
Royal bank of scotland
RBS,
and Lloyds Banking Group
LYG
So far, more than £ 600 million has been redistributed to charity.
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Dowden said the money would support urgent work to tackle youth unemployment, expand access to emergency loans for civil society organizations and help improve the availability of fair and affordable credit for people in need. situation of vulnerability.
Funding Complements Government Funding £ 750 million announced April 8 to help charities, including those providing essential food and medication and providing financial advice, afloat during the crisis.
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Oxfam International said on Wednesday that it closes offices in 18 countries, notably in Pakistan, Cuba and Rwanda, and laid off almost 1,500 workers after the finances of the World Aid Organization were severely affected by the coronavirus crisis.
The UK government is currently holding consultations to extend the scheme to a range of financial assets in the insurance and pension, investment and wealth and asset management sectors. This could generate billions of additional pounds.
“I look forward to the potentially more millions that we can free for good causes by expanding the inactive assets regime,” said John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury.
Account holders reserve the right to claim the full amount owed to them if they discover at a later date that the money has been returned to an inactive account.