Scottish MPs rap Lloyds Banking Group for halting charitable funding

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 20 Oct 2009

A coalition of Scottish MPs has called on Lloyds Banking Group to reconsider its decision to halt funding for the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland.

Last week, the Foundation announced that it had closed its doors to new grant applications “for the foreseeable future” after failing to reach an agreement on future funding with its main benefactor the Lloyds Banking Group.

The move has angered Scottish MPs who have raised concerns about the loss of around £6bn annually as a result of the dispute.

Alistair Carmichael (pictured), MP for Orkney & Shetland, has tabled an Early Day Motion this week which complains that Scottish charities are set to lose £22m over the next nine years as a result of the bank’s new proposals, yet Lloyds Bank received over £40bn in government aid in the past year.

Seventeen MPs, most representing constituencies in Scotland, have signed it.

The Foundation has also received a high volume of political support from MSPs and the Scottish government.

"Quite a few have got in touch with us over the last week," said a spokeswoman. "We will also be having discussions with Iain Gray, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and Murdo Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives."

As part of the covenant between the two organisations, the Foundation received 1 per cent of the Lloyds Banking Group’s pre-tax profits per annum, but as the Group is predicting losses this year the Foundation would not receive anything under this arrangement.

Negotiations broke down after the Foundation said it was offered funding for the next four years as assistance until the Group returns to profit, but only in return for a future reduction of the covenant to a 0.5 per cent share of profits and a revocation of the Foundation’s independent status.

Who's Who: Vibeka Mair

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.