The Government is consulting on a scheme to reinvest money from dormant bank and building society accounts into society, while protecting consumers' rights to reclaim their money.
The consultation was jointly announced by Ed Balls, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and Ed Miliband, the Minister for the Third Sector.
The consultation document sets out proposals to effectively and efficiently distribute assets which remain unclaimed, and follows an initial consultation on the on the scheme, published on 20 March 2007.
The document suggests using the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) as the main body for distributing unclaimed assets in the UK. BIG has a nationwide distribution infrastructure and the capacity to handle assets on this scale, as well as extensive experience of delivering community programmes.
The focus of these resources in England will be youth services, but the Government would also like to use some of the assets to develop the social investment market and contribute to the long-term development of the third sector.
The deadline for the consultation is 9 August 2007.