Dormant Accounts Fund

What is the fund?

When someone does not use their account in a bank, building society or National Savings for at least fifteen years and the person cannot be found, the account is called 'dormant'. Millions of pounds across the UK lie in dormant accounts. The UK Government wants to use some of this money for good causes.

Under the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, it created schemes in all four countries of the UK to reinvest the money in local communities. The Big Lottery Fund will administer these schemes.

How will the money be spent in Wales?

The Welsh Ministers proposed two spending priorities after a public consultation. The National Assembly approved these in April 2010. The Big Lottery Fund will distribute money from dormant accounts to:

• The Sustainable Steps programme, to encourage community action to tackle climate change.  
• A scheme to support young people to achieve their full potential, to be launched in 2012.

The Sustainable Steps programme

This £620,000 programme was launched on 30 September 2011. The scheme will give communities skills to address the cause and consequences of climate change. It will fund a project to deliver climate change advice, training and support to community groups.

How to apply

Two briefing events will be held in Wales during October 2011 in order for potential partners to begin working together. Guidance notes and application forms for Sustainable Steps are available to download on the Big Lottery website. The deadline for submitting an outline proposal form with supporting information is 12 noon on Friday November 4 2011. For further information, please email sustainablesteps@biglotteryfund.org.uk or call the enquiries line on 0300 123 0735.

Visit: Big Lottery Fund website (external link)

How will the Dormant Accounts scheme be run?

A central (UK) body, the Reclaim Fund, is being set up. This will be an intermediary bank, which will gather in the dormant account money from participating banks and building societies across the UK. It will hold back some of the money to pay back members of the public who remember their 'lost' money, but it will pass most of the cash to Big Lottery Fund.

Big Lottery Fund will then divide the money, according to an agreed formula, between the separate schemes in each of the four home nations.

This scheme does not involve lottery money. The Big Lottery Fund has powers under the National Lottery Act 2006 to distribute non-lottery funding.

More information

You can read the The Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 (Prescribed Restrictions) (Wales) Order 2010 on the UK Legislation website (external link).

The consultation took place between 8 August and 14 November 2008. You can download the consultation document and the report on the replies in the consultations section of our website.