RBS outlines plans for Scottish job cuts

Royal Bank of Scotland, you might remember, is in the midst of a 2.5bn cost-cutting programme, which is inevitably going to result in significant redundancies. Now, however, it's unveiled just how many jobs will go north of the border (initially at least) - 800.

In a statement to Holyrood's Economy Committee's investigation into the consequences of the financial crisis in Scotland, RBS was somewhat repentant, saying: "Responsibility for our mistakes and our part in the crisis has been allocated and accepted. Apologies have been given and the relevant leaders have left the business."

RBS also said that as it pares back its workforce, Scotland would be "relatively less affected by job losses than other areas and we expect this to continue to be the case".

Nonetheless, it has indentified 800 roles north of the border which are no longer needed since it began the review in October last year. And, the cuts are still to come.

It said: "These job reductions have not all been progressed yet and it is impossible to say how many staff may be redeployed into alternative roles, thus reducing number of redundancies."

The BBC's political editor Robert Peston, who was giving evidence at the enquiry, suggested that there's a chance Scottish jobs could be moved to London if regulation dictates that the retail part of the bank is divided from the riskier investment arm - in the vein of the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/glass_steagall_act.asp?&viewed=1" target="_blank"Glass Steagall Act.

Should this happen, these roles would inevitably migrate to London, which is a recognised centre for such work, he said.