Chancellor's 'emotional' trip to see ex-miners after pensions boost

MANY FORMER PIT WORKERS WILL SOON GET EXTRA MONEY FOLLOWING BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT

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ACHEL Reeves says she found meeting former miners an “emotional” experience as they celebrated a £2billion pensions boost.

The Chancellor would not be drawn on when ex-miners can expect the final piece of pensions justice to be delivered to them, though one former colliery worker says he is now “more than confident” it will happen soon.

It was confirmed in the recent budget that a £2.3billion reserve fund in a major pensions scheme for ex-miners would be returned to its members - including about 4,800 in Nottinghamshire.

A meeting was held at the Mining Remediation Authority's Mansfield headquarters on Thursday for Rachel Reeves to meet the members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS), who will benefit from the pensions boost.

The BCSSS looks after the pensions of around 40,000 members who were formerly in the mining industry - covering former management, technical, administrative, clerical and supervisory industrial-grade staff, most of whom started on the coalface.

The majority of those who worked in the pits were members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and the government announced changes for that scheme in late 2024, which has seen members getting an average pension uplift of £29 a week.

There was also a pledge to review the MPS’ surplus arrangements for the future, which sees extra money generated being split 50/50 between the government and the scheme’s members.

The BCSSS also had a 50/50 arrangement in place, but a 2015 change now means all surplus money from that scheme goes straight to the government.