Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of indexing payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme for pensions accrued before 1997 by Allied Steel and Wire members.

We are committed to consider what we have heard on this issue. I have heard first hand all the challenges facing ASW workers and others with pre-1997 accrued pensions. However any change in this area has significant implications on public finances for the taxpayer funded Financial Assistance Scheme.

We will continue to work through these important issues with the Pension Protection Fund. The PPF has recently reviewed, and made publicly available, its assessment of the potential impacts of addressing pre-1997 indexation for all the schemes within its remit.