Thanks to my noble friend's work in this area, and the Chancellor's commitment to use fines paid by banks for good causes, £8 million has been committed from the LIBOR funds to support the Imperial War Museum’s education work over the period 2015-2019. The Museum has allocatedaround£2 million for each year of this period and a total of £1.3m has been invested so far in 2015-2016 on ongoing education work. This includes support to the First World War Centenary learning programme with over 3,500 member organisations from more than 50 different countries including universities, museums, schools, libraries, archives, operas, orchestras and local community organisations.

Further to my answer of 2 June 2015 to Question 428 which detailed the information held centrally by the Ministry of Defence. The final project under the Veterans Accommodation Fund (VAF) was announced on 20 July 2015 and that was for £50,000 to the RAF Benevolent Fund, for replacement windows at Forge House in England. The £40 million VAF and the £35 million LIBOR Fund have now closed.

This year saw the implementation of a permanent commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant through a £10 million per annum Covenant Fund, and will be ring-fenced from the UK Defence Budget. Assessments of the first-round of small grants (up to £20,000) are currently taking place and those selected will be announced around the New Year. The deadline for the second round of applications is 17 December 2015.

The deadline for expressions of interest for the large grant scheme (£20,000 to £500,000) has now closed. Those projects accepted for round two will also be informed by 26 November 2015, the deadline for stage two applications is 13 January 2016 with stage two decisions communicated by 10 March 2016.

Although we welcome applications from across the whole of the UK, these will be selected on the basis of defined criteria. The selection panel is made up of MOD officials, sector experts and representatives from each of the Devolved Administrations.

In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

Each bid for charitable funding from Libor fines is considered on its individual merits and with a clear intention that awards should benefit the widest range of military charities and good causes across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Awards of Libor funds are usually made at the Autumn Statement or the Budget.

In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

Each bid for charitable funding from Libor fines is considered on its individual merits and with a clear intention that awards should benefit the widest range of military charities and good causes across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Awards of Libor funds are usually made at the Autumn Statement or the Budget.

In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

Each bid for charitable funding from Libor fines is considered on its individual merits and with a clear intention that awards should benefit the widest range of military charities and good causes across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Awards of Libor funds are usually made at the Autumn Statement or the Budget.

In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

Each bid for charitable funding from Libor fines is considered on its individual merits and with a clear intention that awards should benefit the widest range of military charities and good causes across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Awards of Libor funds are usually made at the Autumn Statement or the Budget.

The reason for the apparent discrepancy is that the documents refer to two separate figures in two separate budgets. Paragraph 2.113 of Budget 2015 allocated £75 million. Paragraph 2.47 of Summer Budget 2015 allocated a further £70 million of banking fines to military charities and good causes.

This takes it to a total of £145m committed in this calendar year.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Veterans and Welfare (Anna Soubry) to the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) on 26 January 2015 to Question 221491.

The invitation to join the Covenant Reference Group remains open and if the Northern Ireland Executive wishes to accept, an invitation will also be extended to sit on the decision panel for future Covenant funding.

In 2013, the Government made £35 million available to deliver Armed Forces Covenant commitments from fines levied on banks for the attempted manipulation of Libor. The cross-Government Covenant Reference Group, which is chaired by the Cabinet Office and includes representatives from key Government Departments, the Devolved Administrations, the Service charity sector, and the three Service Families Federations, set the priorities for the fund. The first two tranches focused on mental health and support for Service families, while the third tranche was open to any project meeting the principles of the Covenant.

In 2014, a further £40 million of Libor funds were made available specifically to support veterans with a housing need via the Veterans Accommodation Fund (VAF). The criteria and application process for both schemes were published on gov.uk.

Both funds were administered by the Armed Forces Covenant team. Against the agreed priorities, applicants had to demonstrate evidence of need, experience of providing a service and value for money. A decision panel was convened to agree the final allocation of funding.

The panel for the £35 million fund sat three times between 2012 and 2014 and included representatives from the Ministry of Defence Covenant and Financial Governance teams, H M Treasury, COBSEO, the three Service Families Federations, and the Welsh and Scottish Governments.

The panel for the VAF sat on 7 July 2014 and included representatives from the Ministry of Defence Covenant and Financial Governance teams, H M Treasury, the Welsh and Scottish Governments, the Army Families Federation, The Royal British Legion and COBSEO Housing Cluster.

Seven applications were submitted from Northern Ireland for the first three tranches of the fund.

I am very pleased that, as a result of the Chancellor's decision in 2012 to transfer £35 million of Libor money to support the Armed Forces community, the fund has supported 96 charities and good causes in a variety of ways across the UK.

While it is correct that only one of the successful grant applications is designed to solely benefit the Northern Irish Armed Forces community, we anticipate that this community will benefit from a number of UK-wide projects which have received funding.

This year sees the implementation of a permanent commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant through a £10 million per annum Covenant Fund, which will be open to applications from across the whole of the UK. Details about the scheme will be announced later this year and I hope that we will see strong applications which will benefit the Armed Forces community in Northern Ireland.

For information on the distribution of the £35 million LIBOR Fund and the £40 million Veterans Accommodation Fund, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2015, to Question 221590 to the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr Coaker).

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-01-21/221590/

Subsequent to that answer there been two further announcements about LIBOR funded projects:

Gurkha Homes Project: £960,000 to Gurkha Homes Limited for various locations across England.

Scottish Veterans' Garden City Association (SVGCA) Future Shared Ownership Consortium: £551,190 for Houses for Heroes in Scotland.

As the hon. Member will have seen, the Chancellor announced in the Budget on 18 March that a total of £450 million of LIBOR fines had been used by this Government to support the Service charities and other good causes, including a further £75 million of funding over the next five years.

The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on the numbers of people who have benefited, or who may benefit, from this funding. However, given the scope of some of these projects, we anticipate that - at a minimum - this will run into the tens of thousands.

For information on the distribution of the £35 million LIBOR Fund and the £40 million Veterans Accommodation Fund, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2015, to Question 221590 to the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr Coaker).

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-01-21/221590/

Subsequent to that answer there been two further announcements about LIBOR funded projects:

Gurkha Homes Project: £960,000 to Gurkha Homes Limited for various locations across England.

Scottish Veterans' Garden City Association (SVGCA) Future Shared Ownership Consortium: £551,190 for Houses for Heroes in Scotland.

As the hon. Member will have seen, the Chancellor announced in the Budget on 18 March that a total of £450 million of LIBOR fines had been used by this Government to support the Service charities and other good causes, including a further £75 million of funding over the next five years.

The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on the numbers of people who have benefited, or who may benefit, from this funding. However, given the scope of some of these projects, we anticipate that - at a minimum - this will run into the tens of thousands.

Since June 2012, HM Treasury has received LIBOR fines from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which the Chancellor has chosen to use to help and support those who demonstrate the very best values in our society. There have been announcements around LIBOR fines made at each Autumn Statement and Budget since 2012.