Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role his Department played in the decision to separate Lloyds and TSB.

Lloyds Banking Group is required to divest part of its UK banking business – TSB – as a result of European Commission approval of the aid it received from the UK Government during the financial crisis.

The TSB divestment was part of a wider package of measures to ensure that the recapitalisation of Lloyds was compliant with the single market. The State aid agreement is therefore between HM Government and Lloyds, and between the Government and the European Commission.