The 'gutted' ex-miners not covered by pensions victory worth billions

A recent win for over 100,000 ex-miners will see the government hand back billions into their pension pot

Tens of thousands of former miners have been left "gutted" after a pensions victory for many of their colleagues had no impact on their own injustice. A huge win was recently celebrated by members of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) after the new Labour government confirmed it would hand billions back to the fund.

One Nottinghamshire campaigner said if delivered in time, the commitment should make a significant improvement to the lives of ex-miners and their widows. Yet for over 40,000 pensioners in a separate scheme for former colliery workers, arrangements which have seen the government take billions from their own pension fund are set to remain the same.

The British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) provides pensions to former management, technical, administrative, clerical and supervisory industrial-grade staff. Like the MPS, it previously had a 50/50 arrangement in place where the government took half of all the surplus money generated by the pension fund.

Miners in the MPS were told that no more than £2 billion was needed to help shore up the pot for the future, but successive governments ended up receiving over £4 billion in cash payments. The government's recent announcement means these surplus arrangements will be reviewed and more than £1 billion from a reserve fund will immediately be handed back.

Yet for BCSSS members, their surplus arrangements have been described as even more unjust. Although previously on a 50/50 arrangement, a change in 2015 negotiated between the government and the primarily government-appointed trustees of the fund means there is now no sharing of surplus money at all.

The government has been receiving all surplus money generated by the fund since that time. A 2021 letter from the fund confirmed that the government had received cash payments totalling £3.2 billion since 1994 and expected to receive further payments in future totalling £1.9 billion.

BCSSS members including Phil Sherburn and David Clark now believe that following the MPS announcement, there is more of a need than ever for their own injustice to be rectified. Mr Clark, 76, who had a 30-year career in mining at pits including Harworth and Ollerton, said: "The changes being made to the MPS will mean that its members could end up with something like a 19% increase.

"If we had the same, you could be talking about an extra £50 a week for long-serving members. That's a lot of money."

Mr Clark was appointed a shift charge engineer in 1981 and transferred his pension from the MPS to the BCSSS at that point. A 2021 report from a parliamentary committee that examined the MPS' previous arrangements described them as "unconscionable".

Yet Mr Clark questions why the BCSSS was outside the terms of reference of that committee, and who set its terms of reference. In a letter to that committee's chair describing the injustice faced by BCSSS members, Mr Clark wrote: "I looked upon that pension as security for the future of my wife and I when I retired, I paid money in, my employer paid money in and the pension schemes invested that money on my behalf.

"I look upon my pension as mine - not to be shared with or abused by successive governments or anyone else for that matter. The fact that there are/were surpluses is testament to the investment skills of the people we employ to make those investments and also, sadly, by the reducing amount of payments made to the rapidly declining membership."

At the point of privatisation in 1994, the government committed to sharing in any surpluses arising with the beneficiaries of a scheme "on an equitable basis". Despite the scrapping of this pledge for BCSSS members, the government appears unwilling to review arrangements at this stage.

In a recent response to Ian Lavery MP, energy minister Sarah Jones said: "Work has started across government to deliver on our manifesto commitments, which included a commitment to review the unfair surplus arrangements of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and transfer the Investment Reserve Fund back to members, so that the mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.

"Currently, the government has no plans for changes to the BCSSS. However, should the trustees wish to make proposals for changes, that would be fair to both scheme members and taxpayers, we will consider them."

Asked how he felt about the MPS announcement, Mr Clark, who still lives in the Bassetlaw parish of Harworth, added: "I was chuffed to bits for them and gutted for us. He who shouts the loudest gets heard and I think it's the case that nobody's been shouting for us." The government was approached for further comment.