Labour is being slammed for the “disgraceful betrayal” of 40,000 former miners who have been excluded from a multi-billion pension fund.
Some £2.3billion in retirement savings built up by members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) will not be handed back to miners.
This is despite the fact will the Government will continue to benefit from 100 per cent of any profit originating from the pension fund.
In September, over 100,000 members of the Mineworkers’ Pensions Scheme (MPS) were informed that they would receive nearly £1.5billion back in pension funds after years of campaigning.
However, it appears ex-miners who had cash saved with the BCSSS will not be in receipt of a similar windfall.
The majority of miners began their careers as members of the MPS, but were transitioned to the BCSSS once they were promoted to senior positions.
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After the privatisation of British Coal in 1994, trustees of both schemes came to an agreement with the then-Government.
As part of this deal, members would get half of any surplus the schemes generated, with the other half being kept by the Government.
Furthermore, the Government promised that all pensions would be paid to members and would increase with inflation, even if funds run out money.
According to Government figures, the state has claimed £4.8billion from the MPS and £3.2billion from the BCSSS.
Due to the deal, the Government has not needed to pay into either of the schemes and members have long fought to change this arrangement.
Going into the last General Election, Labour pledged to “end the injustice” of the MPS by returning the £1.5billion Investment Reserve Fund and looking into the 50:50 surplus sharing agreement.
Despite this, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has made no mention of the BCSSS, with an estimated 40,927 members being short-changed.
On top of this, the Government has confirmed there will be no changes, The Telegraph reports
Dave Clark, 76, moved to the BCSSS after becoming a shift charge engineer and claimed the new Government is treating fund members with “contempt”.
He said: “I just think it’s disgraceful. Initially I was shocked, but I’m angry now and I would like to know why. We’re losing about 2,000 members a year, five or six a day.
“It’s in [Labour’s] interest to drag this out as long as possible. It just makes me angry. Especially when Labour said ‘we’re going to sort out the injustice of the MPS’, and they haven’t.”
When approached for comment, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero cited a recent letter from Industry Minister Sarah Jones to Ian Lavery MP.
Lavery reached out to the Government about the BCSSS on behalf of one of his constituents in Blyth and Ashington.
Furthermore, the Government noted under current arrangements, with no surplus sharing in place, any money in the scheme, is used to meet pensions and act as a buffer if there is a deficit.
On top of this, there will be no future surplus sharing arrangements, except in 2023 when whatever surplus is valued will be paid in full to Government as guarantor.
