Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will conduct a review into the operation of the coal miners' pension scheme and the transfer of surpluses from the pension fund to HM Treasury.

The BEIS Select Committee carried out an inquiry into the Mineworkers Pension Scheme last year. The Government was unable to accept the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee’s report and continues to believe that the existing arrangements work well for all parties. Following the publication of the report, the former Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, the Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan, met the MPS Trustees on 21 June to discuss the report and options for the way forward. She asked the Trustees to consider whether they would be willing to include the Government Guarantee in any future discussions around surplus sharing and the Investment Reserve. The Government awaits their response.