Ex-Nottinghamshire miner hopes for 'big pensions increase' as government confirms new review

A second pension scheme for former miners comprising around 40,000 members will now be reviewed by the government as those in the biggest scheme start seeing a pension increase. One former Nottinghamshire pit worker who is a member of the smaller scheme previously said he was "gutted" that he and others would not be seeing the same pension justice as some of their former colleagues.

The government has confirmed that from Friday (November 29), members of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) will start seeing a pensions uplift equating to an average of £29 a week extra. Rachel Reeves confirmed in her recent budget that over one billion pounds 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.

As well as that, there has also been a pledge to review surplus arrangements going forward, which sees extra money generated by the MPS being split 50/50 between the government and the pension scheme's members. Although campaigners welcomed the changes, those in the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) previously felt left out.

In an announcement on Friday, the government now says it will be reviewing the BCSSS scheme as well. The 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.

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.

Confirming that it will review the arrangements, a spokesperson for the energy department said: "After delivering on the commitment for the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, the largest pension scheme for miners in the UK, the government has committed to review any proposals set out by the trustees of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme – the pensions scheme for former pit managers, which is run on a different basis."

David Clark had a 30-year career in mining at pits including spells at Harworth and Ollerton, having been appointed a shift charge engineer in 1981 and transferring his pension from the MPS to the BCSSS at that point. Reacting to the latest government announcement, Mr Clark said: "It still seems to put the onus on the trustees. It's as if they're trying to give themselves some breathing space.

"It's good and it's better than what they've said previously, but the onus is still on the trustees and there are still a lot of questions. I think they could have said a lot more and been a lot more positive.

"There's former office workers and canteen workers in our scheme who were on much lower wages and therefore have much lower pensions. They've delivered their manifesto promise on the MPS, and that's quite a big increase, so I would hope that we will see something similar."