Key Takeaways
- • Chancellor John Healey announced in the Budget that the 50-50 surplus-sharing agreement on the miners' pension schemes would end, with surplus cash paid to pension holders.
- • Healey did not announce release of the remaining £1.2bn held in the pension scheme, which campaigners say belongs to members alone.
- • The Coalfield Group of Labour MPs wrote to the chancellor calling the funds "the ill-gotten gains of a broken, unjust system" and urging release.
- • Former chancellor Rachel Reeves had agreed in the last two Budgets to release part of the fund, and payouts from the BCSSS and MPS have since been made.
- • Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government's commitment to former miners was "in no way diminished."
Summary
Former mineworkers and campaigners say they were left disappointed by the chancellor's Budget commitments on the miners' pension funds. According to the BBC, the schemes were affected when the Conservative government took over the miners' pension scheme when British Coal was privatised in 1994. At that point ministers guaranteed that the value of the fund would not decrease, but the government was permitted to retain half of any investment surplus.
On Wednesday, Chancellor John Healey said the 50-50 arrangement would end and that surplus cash would be paid to pension holders. He stopped short, however, of announcing the release of the remaining cash held in the pension scheme. In his Budget speech, Healey said some work had been done on the miners' pension fund but that the job was not finished. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government's commitment to former miners was "in no way diminished."
Former chancellor Rachel Reeves had agreed in the last two Budgets to release part of the fund, and payouts from the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) and the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) have since been made. Campaigners are demanding release of the remaining £1.2bn.
In a letter to the chancellor, the Coalfield Group of Labour MPs described that money as "the ill-gotten gains of a broken, unjust system" and urged the government to approve its release. The letter stated: "We understand the fiscal pressures on the Treasury, however in light of the facts, we cannot see a justification for withholding money that belongs to the scheme members alone." BBC News has also been told that there were tense conversations between Labour MPs and Treasury ministers in the day before the Budget.
On Wednesday, Chancellor John Healey said the 50-50 arrangement would end and that surplus cash would be paid to pension holders. He stopped short, however, of announcing the release of the remaining cash held in the pension scheme. In his Budget speech, Healey said some work had been done on the miners' pension fund but that the job was not finished. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government's commitment to former miners was "in no way diminished."
Former chancellor Rachel Reeves had agreed in the last two Budgets to release part of the fund, and payouts from the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) and the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) have since been made. Campaigners are demanding release of the remaining £1.2bn.
In a letter to the chancellor, the Coalfield Group of Labour MPs described that money as "the ill-gotten gains of a broken, unjust system" and urged the government to approve its release. The letter stated: "We understand the fiscal pressures on the Treasury, however in light of the facts, we cannot see a justification for withholding money that belongs to the scheme members alone." BBC News has also been told that there were tense conversations between Labour MPs and Treasury ministers in the day before the Budget.
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