Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of the Dame Linda Dobbs Review into Lloyds Banking Group’s handling of the HBOS Reading fraud.

As you are aware, Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Dame Linda Dobbs as an independent legal expert to consider whether issues relating to HBOS Reading were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities at the time by Lloyds, following its acquisition of HBOS. The findings from this review have not yet been published.

Once the report from this review has been completed, its findings will be shared with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will then consider what action is appropriate to take. As the FCA is an independent body, I am unable to comment further on these matters.