Over 450 organisations call for dormant assets cash to level up ‘left behind’ communities

Local Trust is proud to be part of an alliance of over 450 organisations calling on the government to use dormant assets to establish a Community Wealth Fund, to enable it to achieve its ambition to ‘level up’ the country.

Our call comes as part of the first ever Community Wealth Fund week (1 – 5 November 2021), marking the movement’s momentum and calling on even more organisations to campaign for investment in the communities that need it most.

The Community Wealth Fund would invest in the country’s most ‘left behind’ communities building the social infrastructure (places and spaces to meet, community organisations and local transport and digital connectivity) that would enable them to thrive socially and economically.

Funding would be:

• targeted at a hyper-local or neighbourhood level
• be long-term (between 10 – 15 years); and
• resident led – with decisions made by local people

The fund would put communities in control of decision-making helping residents build confidence and capacity, ensuring they have the community services and facilities needed to improve their area and improving employment and health outcomes for residents.

The Community Wealth Fund Alliance, which comprises mostly civil society organisations and 40 local and combined authorities, is calling for dormant or unclaimed stocks, shares, bonds, insurance, and pension policies to be used to create the Fund.

The Dormant Assets Bill that will release these funds is currently progressing through parliament and the Alliance is asking the government to commit to them being used for the Community Wealth Fund either in the Bill or in the soon to be released Levelling Up White Paper.

Chief Executive of Local Trust Matt Leach, a founding member of the Alliance, said:

“Last week the Chancellor reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to levelling up our most ‘left behind’ communities.  We now call on them to see this commitment through by dedicating the next wave of dormant assets to a Community Wealth Fund capable of investing in the long-term social infrastructure of those neighbourhoods, with local people in the lead.

“Trusting local people to make spending decisions to strengthen their own communities would speak volumes to places that feel forgotten or ignored. This is an excellent opportunity for government to show that levelling up is about more than just the economy, it is also about ensuring that the neighbourhoods we live in benefit from the social infrastructure we know is so critical to ensuring strong community and the best possible quality of life.”

Organisations can sign up to support the Community Wealth Fund campaign at communitywealthfund.org.uk/signup or join the conversation using #CWFweek