Union anger as Lloyds bank jobs are transferred to another firm

The Unite union said pensions and some non-contractual benefits will be affected by the outsourcing of insurance work to Diligenta.

The Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical workforce will be transferred to Diligenta as part of the deal.

The move will affect staff in Edinburgh and Bristol.

Lloyds said the deal would make it easier for customers to manage policies sold under the two brands.

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: “The wholescale transfer of 1,000 Lloyds Banking Group staff to Diligenta is nothing short of a betrayal of these workers.

“The bank’s ‘sale’ of its committed Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical staff represents contempt for long serving and skilled employees.

“The decision to simply sell off the workforce will come as a shock to staff at the bank. Unite is calling on Lloyds to reconsider this shameful deal and do the right thing by its staff who have worked hard to ensure the business is the success it is today. The message from Lloyds Banking Group is loud and clear and appears to be ‘so long, thanks for your efforts, you work for them now’.”

A Lloyds spokesman said: “Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has partnered with Diligenta to enhance its service proposition for customers with heritage life,

pensions and investment products through a new digital platform.

“Diligenta already successfully manages more than 11 million life and pension policies in the UK on its end-to-end policy administration platform.

“The new platform will make managing heritage products simpler and more efficient for LBG customers.

“To provide a seamless handover of service, LBG will transfer some of its operational processes and IT applications, along with around 1,000 employees servicing heritage life, pensions and investment customers, who are expected to join Diligenta at existing LBG sites under a TUPE arrangement.”