LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group (>> Lloyds Banking Group) on Tuesday told about 1,000 staff in its insurance division that they will be moving to Diligenta, a subsidiary of India's Tata Consultancy Services (>> Tata Consultancy Services Limited), in a move criticised by trade union Unite.

Unite said that the staff at Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical in Edinburgh and Bristol will be transferred to the new company. No time frame for the move was given.

"The bank's 'sale' of its committed Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical staff represents contempt for long serving and skilled employees," Rob MacGregor, a Unite national officer, said in a statement.

"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'."

Lloyds in a statement confirmed the transfer of jobs and said the new arrangements "will make managing heritage products simpler and more efficient for the bank's customers."

Tata Consultancy Services, India’s biggest software services exporter, is the most profitable company in the nation's largest conglomerate.

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill and Lawrence White)

Stocks treated in this article : Lloyds Banking Group, Tata Consultancy Services Limited