HBOS: Fraud Investigation

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

As I said to the House previously, the independent Foskett Panel was established by Lloyds Banking Group in 2020, in part following engagement with the FCA and Treasury, to determine the right level of compensation in individual cases. As I said before, the review is independent. I understand that it has made its determinations and settled the compensation for the majority of victims, although there are a few outstanding cases. I hope this work will be able to conclude in the near future.

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I speak as an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services. The Government have placed considerable reliance on developing financial services as an engine of growth in our economy. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that transparent and clear anti-fraud activity is an essential element and that any doubts about the effectiveness of our anti-fraud policy will weaken the opportunities open to us. As the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, said, the extent of the pain and problems caused by this fraud should not be underestimated. Somewhat oddly, it only really came to light because of the work of the Thames Valley Police. We really do need to get better on this.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My noble friend is far more expert in these matters than me, and I think I agree with what he said. As I said, the Government share the frustration at how long processes related to this issue are taking to conclude. We very much hope that the findings of Dame Linda Dobbs’ review will be available very shortly. My noble friend mentioned the importance of the financial services sector, and I would like to reiterate that. The financial services sector is critical to the ambitions of our country; it is one of the largest and most productive sectors of the UK, worth around 9% of total economic output, employing 1.2 million people across the UK. So, I very much endorse what my noble friend says.