Key Takeaways
- • The UK Government is moving to release the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) Guarantor's Fund, thought to be worth about £1.2 billion, to former miners.
- • John Healey has said he wants a deal to release the funds "in weeks, not months", with the work being carried out jointly by Desnz and the Treasury.
- • Healey has pledged to end the existing 50-50 arrangement under which the Government kept half of any surplus, with all surplus cash to be paid to pension holders.
- • SNP MSP Katie Hagmann, along with fellow MSPs and Labour MPs, is pressing the Government for a definitive date for payment.
Summary
SNP MSP Katie Hagmann, representing Cumnock and Doon Valley, has called for a fixed date for the release of a pension fund surplus owed to former coal miners, warning that thousands of Scottish miners must not be left "in the dark" over historic pension payments. According to the source article, the fund is thought to be worth £1.2 billion and is held in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS). The scheme was closed to new members when the British Coal Board was privatised in 1994, a structure that meant the value of the pension fund would not decrease and allowed the UK Government to keep half of any investment surplus.
Following the UK Budget, the Chancellor said that "every penny" of the surplus would finally go to retired coal workers, while adding that "the jobs' not finished". The article identifies the Chancellor as John Healey, who has said he would like to strike a deal to release more than £1 billion "in weeks, not months". Responding to a question in the Commons, Healey said he would ensure the full transfer of the Guarantor's Fund and that the work would be carried out jointly by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) and the Treasury. Healey has pledged that the 50-50 arrangement will end and that all surplus cash will be paid to pension holders.
Hagmann has joined fellow MSPs in writing to the UK Government to ensure the money reaches those entitled to it. Labour MPs have also called for undistributed surplus funds to be released, arguing they belong to former miners. Hagmann said the Government's statement was promising but that a definitive date must now be set. She said miners were "simply asking the Chancellor to stop taking their money" and called on the Government to clarify an exact date for when former miners can expect to receive what remains of the scheme. At the peak of the mining industry, around 6,000 miners were employed at the surface and underground in the Cumnock area. The article does not specify a payment date or the mechanism for distribution.
Following the UK Budget, the Chancellor said that "every penny" of the surplus would finally go to retired coal workers, while adding that "the jobs' not finished". The article identifies the Chancellor as John Healey, who has said he would like to strike a deal to release more than £1 billion "in weeks, not months". Responding to a question in the Commons, Healey said he would ensure the full transfer of the Guarantor's Fund and that the work would be carried out jointly by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) and the Treasury. Healey has pledged that the 50-50 arrangement will end and that all surplus cash will be paid to pension holders.
Hagmann has joined fellow MSPs in writing to the UK Government to ensure the money reaches those entitled to it. Labour MPs have also called for undistributed surplus funds to be released, arguing they belong to former miners. Hagmann said the Government's statement was promising but that a definitive date must now be set. She said miners were "simply asking the Chancellor to stop taking their money" and called on the Government to clarify an exact date for when former miners can expect to receive what remains of the scheme. At the peak of the mining industry, around 6,000 miners were employed at the surface and underground in the Cumnock area. The article does not specify a payment date or the mechanism for distribution.
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