Mineworkers’ Pension Schemes: Nottinghamshire

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Yemm]

It is certainly important to raise those meetings and to have that conversation with members and trustees as frequently as possible.

One of the first big decisions that this Government took was to hand the £1.5 billion investment reserve of the mineworkers’ pension scheme back to its members. That meant a 32% increase in their pensions. Last year, the Government did the same for the British Coal staff scheme, transferring the £2.3 billion reserve. That is the best part of £4 billion back where it belongs, and thousands of families in my constituency have felt that difference.

What is left is the question of surpluses: what happens to the money that builds up in these schemes in the future and the money that is sitting in them right now? The trustees of both schemes have put forward proposals and I think they are sensible. The mineworkers’ pension scheme trustees have asked for three things: first, that around £1 billion of surplus that is locked up in the scheme is used to give members a new bonus pension now; secondly, that 100% of future surpluses will go to improving members’ pensions; and thirdly, that the bonus pensions awarded in 2024 are protected so they cannot be taken away

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his leadership in this campaign. The three things as outlined are no more than what our miners deserve. Just a few weeks ago, I went to an event celebrating 40 years since Whitwick colliery closed. I can feel in the community, every time I go to see them, just how much they need the money in their pockets as quickly as possible, so that they get to live out the rest of their lives with the funds that they have so rightly earned.

[Steve Yemm]

My hon. Friend raises such an important point about the urgency of this question. The third point that I raised really matters to people in my constituency. Members of the British Coal staff scheme have bonus pensions that are protected; members of the mineworkers’ scheme do not. I do not think that anybody could explain to a retired miner in Mansfield why his bonus should be less secure than the one paid to someone he worked alongside at the same colliery. We should fix that.

The British Coal staff scheme’s trustees have made similar proposals, such as clear valuations showing whether the scheme is in surplus or deficit. I want to be clear about one thing: neither set of trustees is asking for the Government guarantee to be removed. Nobody wants to put pensioners’ security at risk and nobody is suggesting the schemes pay out money they might need to meet their commitments. We cannot, however, as my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) pointed out, keep telling people in their 80s that fairness is coming at some point in future.