From Lloyds TSB Foundation Scotland -

"Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland is suspending its grant-making activities for the foreseeable future. The Board of Trustees has taken this difficult decision as our income comes from a share of the profits of Lloyds Banking Group and it has predicted that it will not make a profit this year. That effectively wipes out almost all the Foundation’s income.

"As you would expect, we have been engaged in ongoing discussions with Lloyds Banking Group in London to explore a range of options on how best to enable us to continue our work until the Group returns to profit. But, to date, these have failed due to the Group seeking to tie the offer of a funding package for the next four years to a reduction in the terms of the covenant through which we get our income and a loss of the Foundation’s independent status. A counter offer by the Foundation five weeks ago has not had a response to date.

"We would like to reassure charities that we will honour all existing funding agreements, including multi-year awards, and will be making final awards in December as planned. However, we are currently unable to accept applications for any further awards and recognise that this decision has serious implications for charities across Scotland from the beginning of 2010. We have written to all charities that have had awards in the last three years to let them know what is happening."

Source: www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk