'Six miners dying every day as the wait for pensions justice continues'

EX-COLLIER MP CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO ACT

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE [e-mail]

FORMER Nottinghamshire miners fighting for “critical” changes to their pension scheme say six members are dying every day while waiting for justice.

The government says it is working “at pace” on a review looking at whether billions of pounds should be given back to coalfield communities.

Yet those awaiting a pension uplift say the uncertainty should end immediately, and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson says ex-miners like himself should not be a “cash cow” for the Treasury.

The majority of those who worked in the pits were members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS). The government announced changes to the scheme last year, which has seen members getting an average pension uplift of £29 a week.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in her last Budget that more than £1 billion from a reserve fund in the MPS would be handed back to miners, with billions more having built up over the years than the government ever said was needed.

In addition, there has been a pledge to review surplus arrangements for the future, which sees extra money generated by the MPS being split 50/50 between the government and pensioners.

Although campaigners welcomed the changes, those in the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) previously felt left out.