BARNSLEY East MP Stephanie Peacock has met with the trustees of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme to discuss amending arrangements which have allowed the government to take out billions from the pot without making any contribution.
The meeting was called in Parliament to review the pension deal she says has deprived ex-miners and their widows of billions of pounds in pension payments, and included other Labour MPs of coalfield communities and the NUM.
Under an agreement made by the Conservative government and trustees of the British Coal pension schemes in 1994, half of the surplus made by the MPS is given to the government.
Since the deal was made, the government has received more than £3.36bn from the scheme despite making no contributions.
The parties agreed to work together and present the case for a review of the MPS surplus sharing arrangement and protection of existing bonus payments for scheme members, to the Treasury.
Stephanie said: “I’m pleased the MPS trustees agreed to meet us and discuss a fairer scheme that will help ex-miners like many in Barnsley.
“For too long the government has taken more than its share from the MPS whilst contributing nothing.
“Thousands of miners in Barnsley and across the country worked hard for decades, and they should have a larger share of the huge surplus that has built up.
“The meeting was productive. It ended with real progress being made, with other MPs, the NUM and the trustees agreeing to work together for the benefit of the ex-miners.”
