Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to work with partners to develop new models of community funding.

Access (the Foundation for Social Investment) has launched its 'Local Access' programme together with Big Society Capital. This programme will provide a blend of grant and repayable investment worth at least £33m across five places in England. This includes £15 million of repayable social investment from Big Society Capital (the UK’s social investment wholesaler set up with dormant account money), £8 million of funding from Access’s endowment for enterprise development, and £10million of recently released dormant accounts money for place-based investment. The first round of funding will be released to the chosen five places in early 2020. The objective of the programme is to support the growth of the social economy in local places and in doing so help reduce poverty and inequality.