Former Nottinghamshire mineworkers accuse Government of delaying pension payout

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Ray Cosgrove worked for seven years at Ollerton Colliery, and three years at Mansfield, both as a coal-face deputy and an overman towards the end of his career.

Ray Cosgrove worked for seven years at Ollerton Colliery, and three years at Mansfield, both as a coal-face deputy and an overman towards the end of his career.

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

Former Nottinghamshire mineworkers have accused the Government of unnecessarily delaying a decision to pay out a multi-billion pound pension pot surplus.

Some told the Local Democracy Reporting Service and Notts TV the hold-up was ‘disgraceful’ and ‘unjust’, given previous governments have already generated billions of pounds in funding using the scheme.

The problems date back to the privatisation of British Coal in 1994, after which the government became a guarantor for two existing national pension schemes.

These were the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS).

In return, it was agreed the Government would be entitled to half of any profits.

Successive governments have since made £4.8bn from the MPS and £3.2bn from the BCSSS through the agreements.

Following a campaign from MPS members, Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Lab) said last year all of the MPS investment reserve would be handed over to ex-mineworkers and their families in a landmark arrangement.

The pot was worth around £1.5bn, and the move has already helped more than 8,000 former mineworkers in Nottinghamshire receive extra pension payments.

Following the announcement in October, beneficiaries of the separate British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) have now called on the Government to release its surplus to members.

While the surplus-sharing arrangement for this scheme ended in 2015, a £2.3bn investment reserve fund still exists. There are around 40,000 beneficiaries of the scheme.

BCSSS trustees and its members are asking for a change of rules to release the funds.

While energy minister Sarah Jones MP has committed to discussing the proposals with the treasury, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said they will only be considered once future MPS surplus sharing arrangements have been agreed.

Tony Gibson, who worked at Bevercotes Colliery upon leaving school in 1975 until it closed in 1994, said the Prime Minister’s comments at Prime Minister’s Questions on January 8 had left members “frustrated”.

“Having heard from Keir Starmer that consideration by the BCSSS trustees will only be looked at after the future surplus share agreement has been completed with the MPS, has filled myself and members with frustration that this could be another example of kicking the can down the road,” he said.

Mr Gibson, who started as a mining-craft apprentice and became one of the youngest coal-face deputies in the industry at the age of 23, described the scheme’s arrangements as ‘disgraceful’.

“At the start of this campaign some were calling us a managers’ union, a white collar workers’ union, saying that we weren’t miners, but as I’ve said, I worked every day on the coalface from 16,” he said.

“There were a lot of misconceptions and a lot of misunderstandings I think.

“We all worked together and we have all been robbed if you like. The scheme wasn’t the government’s to start with, they haven’t paid a single penny in.”

Another ex-mineworker, Ray Cosgrove, worked for seven years at Ollerton Colliery, and three years at Mansfield, both as a coal-face deputy and an overman towards the end of his career.

The 66-year-old said: “I sat back, I got my pension, and just assumed it was being looked after as it was a government-backed scheme.

“But the more you look at it the more you think actually, it is unjust.

“It is said the MPS and the BCSSS are completely different schemes.

“We are very keen to dispel that they are very different. They are very similar, with slight nuances. The government might not have taken any money out since 2015, but they have taken £3bn out before that.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Minister Jones recently met with Trustees of the BCSSS and has committed to talking to the treasury about their proposals.

“The government has taken no money from the scheme’s surpluses since 2015. All of that surplus is used purely to fund future pensions.”

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