Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme: senior MP demands ‘action’ from Andy Burnham and John Healey on £1.2bn fund
As chancellor, Rachel Reeves arranged for £3.8bn to be paid back into miners’ pension pots, however, a £1.2bn guarantor’s fund is still with the Government.
A senior Yorkshire coalfield MP has said he expects to “see some action” from Andy Burnham after the Government failed to release more than £1bn for mineworkers’ pensions after the Budget.
Normanton and Hemsworth’s Jon Trickett told The Yorkshire Post: “I’m prepared to push this as hard as I can, for as long as I can. Justice for the miners means something in my world.”
In 1994, the then Conservative government struck a deal when British Coal was privatised, meaning it received a surplus of the two main mining pension schemes.
This left the Treasury sitting on £1.5bn from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and £2.3 from the smaller British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.
As chancellor, Rachel Reeves arranged for these to be paid back into the pension pots, with mineworkers and staff receiving significant increases to their weekly payments.
However, a £1.2bn guarantor’s fund for the MPS is still with the Government.
In his Budget, Chancellor John 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 the full transfer of the guarantor’s fund.”
However, in the weeks after Mr Healey’s October statement no timetable has been put on this.
OpenDemocracy has reported that MPS trustees were expecting the cash to be released immediately, and had hoped to give their members a boost before Christmas.
However, it is now thought that this may have to wait until next year.
Mr Healey, who represents a coalfield seat near Rotherham, told ITV Calendar: “I’m proud of what we’ve done for the mineworkers so far, it’s not yet finished and I’m working on trying to find a resolution in the next weeks not months.
“The guarantor’s fund needs to be transferred and it will.”
Around one in five of the more than 100,000 MPS members live in South Yorkshire, with the National Mineworkers’ Union based in Barnsley.
Mr Healey has made a big deal about his Rawmarsh and Conisbrough seat’s links to the mining industry.
At the Labour Party Conference, he brought out the miner’s lamp he keeps on his mantelpiece at home. Mr Healey wrote to then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng about releasing funds in 2020.
Mr Burnham said that this "in no way diminished" his commitment to former miners.
Reports suggested that Mr Healey had been due to meet MPS trustees yesterday morning, although this did not go ahead. A spokesperson for the Chancellor declined to comment.
On Tuesday, the trustees met with the Labour Group of Coalfield MPs in Parliament.
Mr Trickett said that “it’s very, very upsetting and irritating” that the funds were not released following the Budget.
“Andy Burnham, our Prime Minister, has said it will be sorted out within weeks not months.
“I don’t know how many weeks that means, but I expect to see some action.
“The trustees said they had received a phone call from the Treasury, John Healey himself, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking to meet the leading members of the trust on Thursday. I’m hoping we’ll get some feedback at that stage.”