Key Takeaways
- • Campaigners and coalfield MPs are demanding that the government immediately transfer a £1.2 billion unallocated guarantor fund held within the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) to ex-miners, following Chancellor John Healey's Budget commitment.
- • Chancellor Healey guaranteed in the Budget that every penny of future pension fund surplus would go to miners and pledged a full transfer of the guarantor fund, but campaigners say the statement was too vague on timing.
- • Government changes have already transferred more than £1 billion back to the MPS and more than £2 billion back to the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS), with the MPS fund having been reduced from earlier reserve levels.
- • Around 150,000 living members are covered by the two schemes, 37,000 of them in the East Midlands and 5,000 in Mansfield alone.
- • Earlier changes produced an average uplift of £29 a week for MPS members, and Mansfield MP Steve Yemm estimates they generated about £100 million for the local economy; the £1 billion transfer could deliver a similar boost.
Summary
Ex-miners in Nottinghamshire say they have waited "long enough" for the government to transfer a £1.2 billion unallocated fund, as several MPs representing coalfield areas press Chancellor John Healey for immediate action, according to the Nottingham Post. Healey confirmed in his recent Budget that a long-standing pensions demand of ex-miners would be delivered, but only after a last-minute climbdown was reversed following pressure from coalfield MPs. In his Budget speech, Healey said: "For ex-mineworkers, I'm guaranteeing that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners. I know the job's not done and I will go on to ensure a full transfer of the guarantor fund."
The guarantor fund refers to £1.2 billion of unallocated money currently sitting in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme. Both the MPS and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme were established with reserves intended to ensure sufficient cash for payouts, but far more was accumulated than required. Government changes have so far moved more than £1 billion back to the MPS and more than £2 billion back to the BCSSS. Surplus-sharing arrangements have also been a point of contention: MPS surpluses were divided 50/50 between members and government, while BCSSS surpluses went entirely to the government. The government had pledged to review both arrangements.
Mick Newton, a former Thoresby Colliery miner who has campaigned for pensions justice for decades, attended the Commons statement and said he was pleased the Chancellor had accepted the case in principle but found it "too vague." A letter from coalfield MPs, including Rushcliffe's Labour MP James Naish, calls the £1.2 billion "the ill-gotten gains of a broken, unjust system" and states that the government has taken more than £4.4 billion from the MPS since 1994 under a guarantee that has never cost the public purse a penny. The letter warns that aging miners and widows continue to die without seeing the settlement.
According to the report, an immediate transfer would raise pension payments for ex-miners. Previous changes have produced an average uplift of £29 a week for MPS members. Mansfield's Labour MP Steve Yemm estimated those earlier changes delivered an economic boost of about £100 million to Mansfield and said the £1 billion transfer could generate a similar injection. Yemm urged the government to carry through its commitment and provide greater certainty to former mineworkers and their families. No timetable for the transfer has been set out in the reporting.
The guarantor fund refers to £1.2 billion of unallocated money currently sitting in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme. Both the MPS and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme were established with reserves intended to ensure sufficient cash for payouts, but far more was accumulated than required. Government changes have so far moved more than £1 billion back to the MPS and more than £2 billion back to the BCSSS. Surplus-sharing arrangements have also been a point of contention: MPS surpluses were divided 50/50 between members and government, while BCSSS surpluses went entirely to the government. The government had pledged to review both arrangements.
Mick Newton, a former Thoresby Colliery miner who has campaigned for pensions justice for decades, attended the Commons statement and said he was pleased the Chancellor had accepted the case in principle but found it "too vague." A letter from coalfield MPs, including Rushcliffe's Labour MP James Naish, calls the £1.2 billion "the ill-gotten gains of a broken, unjust system" and states that the government has taken more than £4.4 billion from the MPS since 1994 under a guarantee that has never cost the public purse a penny. The letter warns that aging miners and widows continue to die without seeing the settlement.
According to the report, an immediate transfer would raise pension payments for ex-miners. Previous changes have produced an average uplift of £29 a week for MPS members. Mansfield's Labour MP Steve Yemm estimated those earlier changes delivered an economic boost of about £100 million to Mansfield and said the £1 billion transfer could generate a similar injection. Yemm urged the government to carry through its commitment and provide greater certainty to former mineworkers and their families. No timetable for the transfer has been set out in the reporting.
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