The UK’s Dormant Assets Scheme unlocks long-untouched funds, lost or forgotten by their owners, to tackle pressing issues. Recently, a further £3.7 billion entered the scope of the Scheme under the Dormant Assets Act of 2022. An estimated £738 million of this is expected to be made available over time to the Scheme’s social and environmental causes in England.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) sought the public’s input on where best to target these funds. DCMS commissioned Alma Economics to coordinate a consultation.

We designed a user-friendly online questionnaire and held 8 consultation events over 12 weeks. Over 3,300 charities, businesses, academic think tanks, and other respondents shared their perspectives on present and prospective recipients of funds via the Scheme. Our team collected both qualitative and quantitative data to identify stakeholders’ funding priorities.

Alma’s experts utilised thematic analysis to pinpoint common themes in responses to open-ended questions. We also explored the differences in diverse groups’ opinions by conducting segmentation analysis on multiple-choice questions.

➥ See the government’s response to the consultation here.