Exclusive:Ed Miliband: governments hoarding mineworkers' pensions has been 'national scandal'
Previous governments lack of action on mineworkers’ pensions has been “a national scandal”, Ed Miliband has said, after Rachel Reeves’ Budget announcement on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.
Last year, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) would get a £1.5bn boost, righting a “historic injustice”.
In 1994, the then-government struck a deal meaning it received a surplus of the pension scheme. But a similar surplus was acquired in the separate and larger BCSSS.
On Wednesday, Ms Reeves confirmed she would “transfer the investment reserve fund of the BCSSS to its members, so that the men and women who worked in our coal industry get a fair deal in their retirement, too”.
The Chancellor added: “I will not allow the legacies of Conservative neglect to stain our society.”
This will see £2.3bn go towards the 40,000 BCSSS members, boosting their pensions by £100 a week.
There are more than 10,000 members across Yorkshire who are set to benefit.
Writing in The Yorkshire Post today, Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, said: “For too long, those who worked in the mines, and many more who kept pits up and down the country running, have been denied the decent pensions they deserve.
“It has been a national scandal that previous governments have taken money that could have been passed to those miners and their families.”
The Doncaster North MP added: “With this decision we will deliver for all members of the former British Coal pension schemes.
“I want to pay tribute to the National Union of Mineworkers and all the campaigners involved in ending this decades-long injustice. This victory is theirs.”
Sally Jameson, the Doncaster Central MP, has been one of the many coalfield MPs who has been lobbying the Government on BCSSS.
She said the members “deserve the swift return of their investment reserve fund”.
She added: “We have a strong mining heritage in Doncaster that must not be forgotten and I'm proud to represent former mineworkers and their families.”