A LETTER written by Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith which calls for a fairer pension deal for ex-miners and their families has so far received support from 86 MPs, many from former coalfield areas.

The letter, which has been co-signed by Gloria De Piero MP and Stephanie Peacock MP and supported by a further 84 cross-party members, calls for the Government to take forward proposals set out by Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS) trustees “at the earliest possible opportunity”.

The proposals include consolidating existing pension bonuses and ensuring that miners have higher guaranteed payments.

The letter also repeats calls for a formal review of the sharing arrangements which currently sees the Government taking a 50% share of any surplus generated, in exchange for acting as a guarantor.

During a debate, held earlier this month, Minister for Business and Industry Andrew Stephenson said he would be meeting the trustees to discuss their proposals. He also said he had written to the Treasury to give “full support” to the trustees’ proposals but acknowledged that a review of the 50/50 split was not currently on the table.

Nick Smith MP said: “We have been told that the Treasury has been encouraged to adopt the trustees’ proposals. What we need now, and what this letter calls for, is action.

“We need clarity around the current proposals and we must also ensure that a review of the 50/50 split is not brushed under the carpet.

“The Government has received more than £4bn from the scheme since 1994 without paying a penny in. This is wrong. Particularly given that we know some ex-miners are getting by on less than £80 a week.

“Pensioners are subsidising the Government.

“All ex-miners and their families want is fair play and a fair deal for the decades of dangerous work they carried out. We must repay that debt to them.”

Dear Minister,

We are writing to you regarding the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and proposals which have been made by the Trustees regarding longer-term protection for pension bonuses.

These proposals would consolidate existing pension bonuses and ensure that miners have greater financial security and higher guaranteed payments – both of which are essential to start ensuring the fairer deal for retired miners and their families which so many Members emphasised during the debate earlier this month.

We would therefore encourage the Government to take forward these proposals at the earliest possible opportunity. At the same time, we would repeat our call for a formal review of the current sharing arrangements as outlined in the Backbench Business Committee debate motion which passed the House on June 10^th.

During your frontbench response, you referred to the proposals and stated that you would “write to the Treasury encouraging their adoption”.

We would be grateful if you could therefore confirm by which date they are likely to be adopted and at which point they will begin to apply to Scheme members.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Smith MP  /   Gloria De Piero MP /  Stephanie Peacock MP

Debbie Abrahams MP

 

Nigel Adams MP

 

Mike Amesbury MP

 

Tonia Antoniazzi MP

 

Sir Kevin Barron MP

 

Clive Betts MP

 

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP

 

Ben Bradley MP

 

Kevin Brennan MP

 

Andrew Bridgen MP

 

Alan Brown MP

 

Chris Bryant MP

 

Richard Burden MP

 

Alan Campbell MP

 

Ronald Campbell MP

 

Sir William Cash MP

 

Sarah Champion MP

 

Douglas Chapman MP

 

Jenny Chapman MP

 

Ann Clwyd MP

 

Vernon Coaker MP

 

Julie Cooper MP

 

Yvette Cooper MP

 

Alex Cunningham MP

 

Wayne David MP

 

Tan Dhesi MP

 

Rosie Duffield MP

 

Jonathan Edwards MP

 

Clive Efford MP

 

Julie Elliott MP

 

Chris Elmore MP

 

Charlie Elphicke MP

 

Chris Evans MP

 

Caroline Flint MP

 

Hugh Gaffney MP

 

Mary Glindon MP

 

Helen Goodman MP

 

Bill Grant MP

 

Lillian Greenwood MP

 

Nia Griffith MP

 

John Grogan MP

 

David Hanson MP

 

Carolyn Harris MP

 

Mike Hill MP

 

Sharon Hodgson MP

 

Lesley Laird MP

 

Ian Lavery MP

 

Emma Lewell-Buck MP

 

Ian Lucas MP

 

Dan Jarvis MP

 

Andrea Jenkyns MP

 

Gerald Jones MP

 

Helen Jones MP

 

Kevan Jones MP

 

Susan Elan Jones MP

 

Stephen Kinnock MP

 

John Mann MP

 

Conor McGinn MP

 

Ian Mearns MP

 

Ed Miliband MP

 

Jessica Morden MP

 

Grahame Morris MP

 

Madeleine Moon MP

 

Ian Murray MP

 

Lisa Nandy MP

 

Alex Norris MP

 

Albert Owen MP

 

Toby Perkins MP

 

Jo Platt MP

 

Christina Rees MP

 

Danielle Rowley MP

 

Dennis Skinner MP

 

Ruth Smeeth MP

 

Owen Smith MP

 

Gareth Snell MP

 

Alex Sobel MP

 

Jo Stevens MP

 

Mark Tami MP

 

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP

 

Thelma Walker MP

 

Martin Whitfield MP

 

Phil Wilson MP

 

Dame Rosie Winterton MP