Lloyds Banking Group is to commit a further £1m annually to the Bank of Scotland Foundation from 2014, which will double the sum it already gives.

The news comes in the shadow of the Group's recent win against Lloyds TSB Foundation's appeal over the amount of money it received from the Group in 2010.

The Bank of Scotland Foundation, an independent charity set up two years ago with funding from the Group, already commits £1m a year to charities throughout Scotland, with a mission to improve local communities and financial literacy across the country.

Kate Guthrie, chair of the Bank of Scotland Foundation (BoSF) said: “BoSF has supported charities right across the country from Stornoway to Shotts and from Perth to Peebles so this additional support of £1m a year will enable us to help even more charities in 2014 and is great news for charities across the Scotland.”

Increase 'unrelated to court case'

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lloyds Banking Group in an ongoing case regarding the amount the Bank owes another of the charities it supports, the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland (LTSBFS). That Foundation was denied the £3.5m it felt it was owed and instead had to settle for £38,920.

But a spokeswoman from the Group insisted to civilsociety.co.uk that the BoSF re-negotiation had nothing to do with the court case.

“The £3.5m was the sum if LTSBFS’s interpretation of our profit figure was judged to be correct,” she said. “The Supreme Court ruled that it wasn’t, so their entitlement was the de-minimis figure.
 
“Despite that, we continue to support LTSBFS until the agreement ends (another five years) and we have to allow for these payments within our accounting.”
 
She added that after the bank ends of its relationship with LTSBFS, BoSF will be the sole vehicle for its continued investment in the country, and that the extra £1m "further underscores Lloyds' continued commitment to Scotland".