The trustees of the £10.4bn Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme have criticised a government decision not to bring the fund’s surplus arrangements into line with the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, despite months of negotiations.
The chancellor, John Healey, announced in his Budget speech that both pension schemes would be able to use 100% of any future surplus to pay bonuses to members, ending the previous surplus-sharing arrangement in place since the privatisation of British Coal.
In the Budget report, the government added that it would “work with the trustees toward full transfer of the remaining Guarantor’s Fund” – effectively the Mineworkers’ scheme’s current surplus.
However, according to the trustees of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, government officials told them just hours before Healey spoke that they would not be permitted to use the approximately £1bn of surplus currently in the fund to pay bonuses to members this year.
“The trustees feel strongly that, once again, members are not being treated equally and are receiving a second-class deal.”
Statement from the trustee board of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme
This is despite a deal to do so was “ready to sign” between the trustees and Blair McDougall MP, the minister responsible for the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.
Officials also originally said any bonuses paid since 2024 would not be guaranteed by the government, although this was later reversed in a subsequent meeting with McDougall.
In a statement on the Mineworkers’ scheme website, the trustee board said the government’s decision had been “driven by its accounting rules” – but it also pointed out that £2.3bn was transferred to members of the British Coal scheme last year.
The trustees stated: “The government has still not agreed to transfer the undistributed surplus funds to members immediately. These funds will stay unused in the scheme and no bonus pension will be paid this year.”
They also noted that there was no guarantee that the surplus would be transferred in full and no mention of a timescale for any decisions.
“The trustees’ position is that the work has been done and that the undistributed surplus funds should be transferred to members now without further delay,” the statement read. “The trustees feel strongly that, once again, members are not being treated equally and are receiving a second-class deal.”
