Lloyds to cut another 1,200 jobs

The job cuts follow the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS

Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 1,200 jobs, taking the total job losses for the year to 8,200.

The jobs will mostly go in IT support and in insurance services following the merger of its Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical businesses.

Lloyds, which is 43%-owned by the taxpayer, said 370 of the jobs were currently filled by temporary staff.

Separately, it has created 180 new jobs. Lloyds said it had created 1,200 new roles since January.

In the latest round of job cuts, Scotland will lose 220 posts, West Yorkshire 300, and Bristol 110, the rest will be spread across the UK.

Continuing cuts

The Unite union called it a "groundhog day", referring to the regularity of job loss announcements the banking giant has made in the past few months.

"Unite views the weekly cull of jobs as a disgraceful approach by this taxpayer supported financial institution," the union said in a statement.

"We have lots of great operations, soothed the new man in charge of Lloyds Group Operations, "but we often have two and only need one"

Dave Harvey: At Lloyds' Bristol HQ

In the past two months for example, Lloyds has announced a series of cuts:

• On 30 June, it said it would cut 2,100 jobs over the next three years

• On 9 June, it said 1,660 jobs would go with the closure of all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches

• A week earlier on 3 June, it revealed plans to shed 530 jobs by the end of the year, including 210 at a customer service unit in Kent

• On 21 May, it said it was cutting 210 jobs as a result of combining the telephone and digital banking services of Lloyds TSB and HBOS

• This was preceded on 19 May by the announcement of 625 job losses due to the merging of its corporate and small-business lending units.

Lloyds said it was "committed to working through these changes with colleagues carefully and sensitively". It said it would use natural turnover and redeploy people where possible.

The staff cuts follow the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS late last year when Halifax Bank of Scotland had to be rescued in the midst of the financial crisis.