I have just received my Pensions Campaign Update so I thought I would include part it on my web site.
In early 2002 the Government and the Trustees of the two miners' schemes issued a joint statement agreeing to reconsider the present 50-50 division surpluses "to provide an equitable sharing of risk and reward". Since 1994 the Treasury has built up a total of entitlement to around £5,000 million - a sum out of all proportion to the risk involved in guaranteeing miners' pension entitlements.
Having agreed there was a moral obligation to review the terms, the Government has backtracked. Instead of a fairer division of surpluses, the Government is proposing that an entirely new system should be investigated. The proposal is to replace a fixed share of surpluses with an insurance premium to the Treasury.
There is logic in what the Government is saying because its share of surpluses was anyway in effect an insurance premium. But whether this way forward would actually leave pensioners better off remains to be seen.
If you want to add you voice to the demand for a fairer deal you can contact your MP or Government Ministers.
MPs House of Commons, London. SW1A 0AA.
Treasury 1 Horse Guards, London. SW1A 2HQ.
For More information contact the Coalfield Communities Campaign.
