Key Takeaways
- • Coalfield Labour MPs have urged Chancellor John Healey to release the remaining £1.2 billion held in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) guarantor's fund, according to Chronicle Live.
- • The Chancellor said in the Budget speech that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners, but acknowledged the full transfer of the guarantor's fund is not finished.
- • The MPs say the £1.2 billion was not included in the Budget, which they learned about only 24 hours before it was delivered, and warn that delays mean retired miners and widows are dying without receiving the settlement.
- • The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) described the fund as "the remaining ill-gotten gains from an unfair system" that has penalised MPS members for 31 years.
Summary
Labour MPs representing former North East mining communities have called on Chancellor John Healey to release more than £1 billion, specifically £1.2 billion, that remains in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) guarantor's fund. According to Chronicle Live, the MPs say the government must deliver on a promise to end a "historic injustice" suffered by miners and their families.
The scheme came under government control when British Coal was privatised in 1994, under an arrangement that allowed it to keep 50% of any investment surplus it generated. Labour committed in its 2024 manifesto to review what it called an "unfair" arrangement, and former Chancellor Rachel Reeves later transferred the scheme's £1.5 billion investment reserve fund to members.
In his Budget speech, Healey said he was "guaranteeing that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners" and stated: "I know the job's not finished and I will go on to ensure the full transfer of the guarantor's fund." The MPs, in a letter sent on the evening of the Budget, said they were "dismayed" to learn the Treasury was reportedly going to defer the £1.2 billion release, and welcomed the Chancellor's commitments while urging immediate approval.
The letter, signed by Easington MP Grahame Morris, Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne, Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery and North Durham MP Luke Akehurst, cited Prime Minister Andy Burnham's earlier description of the arrangements as "a disgrace and an injustice." Lavery told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that around 6,000 pensioners die each year and may never receive the money. Osborne said she had received assurances from ministers that the transfer remains committed, but was disappointed it was not included in the Budget.
The National Union of Mineworkers argued the guarantor's fund is "not taxpayers' money" and described it as the remaining proceeds of an unfair system.
The scheme came under government control when British Coal was privatised in 1994, under an arrangement that allowed it to keep 50% of any investment surplus it generated. Labour committed in its 2024 manifesto to review what it called an "unfair" arrangement, and former Chancellor Rachel Reeves later transferred the scheme's £1.5 billion investment reserve fund to members.
In his Budget speech, Healey said he was "guaranteeing that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners" and stated: "I know the job's not finished and I will go on to ensure the full transfer of the guarantor's fund." The MPs, in a letter sent on the evening of the Budget, said they were "dismayed" to learn the Treasury was reportedly going to defer the £1.2 billion release, and welcomed the Chancellor's commitments while urging immediate approval.
The letter, signed by Easington MP Grahame Morris, Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne, Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery and North Durham MP Luke Akehurst, cited Prime Minister Andy Burnham's earlier description of the arrangements as "a disgrace and an injustice." Lavery told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that around 6,000 pensioners die each year and may never receive the money. Osborne said she had received assurances from ministers that the transfer remains committed, but was disappointed it was not included in the Budget.
The National Union of Mineworkers argued the guarantor's fund is "not taxpayers' money" and described it as the remaining proceeds of an unfair system.
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