Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of whether a higher proportion of funds from dormant bank and building society accounts transferred to the Reclaim Fund Ltd could potentially be transferred to the National Lottery Community Fund.
Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL) is legally obliged to retain a portion of the funds it receives as a result of the Dormant Assets Scheme in order to repay owners who come forward to reclaim their money. Overseen by HM Treasury, it is RFL’s responsibility to determine the appropriate proportion of funding that it can prudently release.
RFL currently releases 60% of the money it receives to social and environmental initiatives through The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF), and reserves 40% for meeting reclaims. RFL’s approach is based on actuarial modelling and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance. Over time, this has enabled RFL to change the proportion of funds transferred to TNLCF: in 2016, RFL decreased their reclaim provision from 60% to 40%.