Government vague on bank fines charity cash

NEARLY £1 billion of cash recouped from bank fines for raterigging has been handed out to charities – but the Government cannot confirm if the money has been used as intended, according to a report.

An investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) also found the Government may have failed to deliver on its 2015 election pledge to spend £200 million – more than 20 per cent – of the fund on supporting 50,000 apprenticeships.

The NAO report showed that £933 million of a total fund worth £973 million has been allocated to charities, emergency services and the Armed Forces since it was set up in the wake of mammoth fines paid by banks for the Libor and foreign exchange raterigging scandals since 2012.

It was announced at the time that all proceeds of the fines would “go to the benefit of the public”. But findings of the NAO report reveal the Government has failed to keep track of the impact that the money has had on good causes. The NAO said £196 million of grants were handed out from the fund between 2012 and the end of 2015 without any terms and conditions.

It said: “HM Treasury and the Ministry of Defence cannot yet confirm that charities spent all grants as intended.” It added: “The Government cannot yet demonstrate the impact the Libor grant fund has had as it has not been evaluating the impact of the grant schemes on the charity sector.”

It said the Ministry of Defence is conducting a review of all grants since 2012, while the Treasury has said it will complete an external evaluation by December 2018.