Key Takeaways
- • Coalfield Labour MPs have urged Chancellor John Healey to release the remaining £1.2bn held in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) guarantor's fund, following the Budget.
- • The MPS was taken over by the Government when British Coal was privatised in 1994, under an arrangement allowing it to keep 50% of any investment surplus; Labour's 2024 manifesto called this arrangement "unfair."
- • Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously transferred the scheme's £1.5bn investment reserve fund to members, leaving the £1.2bn guarantor's fund as the outstanding balance.
- • In the Budget, Healey pledged that "every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners" but acknowledged the full transfer of the guarantor's fund was not yet complete.
- • The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) describes the fund as "ill-gotten gains" from an unfair system that penalised MPS members for 31 years.
Summary
North East and coalfield Labour MPs have pressed Chancellor John Healey to release more than £1 billion still held in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS), according to the Hexham Courant, which reported the story via the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The MPs describe the arrangement as a "historic injustice" suffered by miners and their families.
The MPS was assumed by the Government when British Coal was privatised in 1994, under an agreement that allowed it to retain 50% of any investment surplus the scheme generated. Labour pledged in its 2024 manifesto to review what it termed an "unfair" arrangement. Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves subsequently transferred the scheme's £1.5bn investment reserve fund to members. The remaining £1.2bn sits in the guarantor's fund.
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 said they were "dismayed" to learn only 24 hours before the Budget that the Treasury was reportedly planning not to release the £1.2bn. In a letter to the Chancellor, they welcomed his commitments but urged immediate approval of the transfer, warning that delays mean more retired miners and widows will die before receiving the settlement.
Signatories include Easington MP Grahame Morris, Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne, Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery, and North Durham MP Luke Akehurst. Lavery said around 6,000 pensioners die each year who may never receive the money. Osborne said she had received assurances from ministers that the remaining £1.2bn would be transferred, but expressed disappointment that the transfer was not included in the Budget.
The National Union of Mineworkers said the guarantor's fund is "not taxpayers' money," describing it as the remaining gains from a system that penalised MPS members for 31 years. No timetable for release has been announced in the sources reviewed.
The MPS was assumed by the Government when British Coal was privatised in 1994, under an agreement that allowed it to retain 50% of any investment surplus the scheme generated. Labour pledged in its 2024 manifesto to review what it termed an "unfair" arrangement. Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves subsequently transferred the scheme's £1.5bn investment reserve fund to members. The remaining £1.2bn sits in the guarantor's fund.
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 said they were "dismayed" to learn only 24 hours before the Budget that the Treasury was reportedly planning not to release the £1.2bn. In a letter to the Chancellor, they welcomed his commitments but urged immediate approval of the transfer, warning that delays mean more retired miners and widows will die before receiving the settlement.
Signatories include Easington MP Grahame Morris, Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne, Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery, and North Durham MP Luke Akehurst. Lavery said around 6,000 pensioners die each year who may never receive the money. Osborne said she had received assurances from ministers that the remaining £1.2bn would be transferred, but expressed disappointment that the transfer was not included in the Budget.
The National Union of Mineworkers said the guarantor's fund is "not taxpayers' money," describing it as the remaining gains from a system that penalised MPS members for 31 years. No timetable for release has been announced in the sources reviewed.
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