Miners 'thrown to the wolves' over pensions

Former Welsh mineworkers are urging the UK government to release £2.3bn in reserves from their pension scheme so it can be paid out.

The government released the equivalent money from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS) in the budget in October, but the money is still frozen for those in the alternative pension scheme, the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS).

Lindsey Hopkins, 75, is one of the more than 3,000 former miners that could be affected and said the government had "thrown us to the wolves" by not treating both schemes in the same way.

The Department for Energy and Net Zero said it was to discuss the matter with the Treasury.

Mr Hopkins started work at the Merthyr Vale colliery and continued in the industry until 2010 in private mines after privatisation.

He retired at 60 due to ill health, with issues including chest and joint problems.

He said he was "very bitter" that the BCSSS reserves had not been released to pensioners.

"Coal, steel and iron put this country where it is and look at us now - they've thrown us on the scrapheap," he said.

Mr Hopkins said he felt successive governments had mistreated miners and their pensions.

"I've got no confidence in the government. Whichever government is in I've got no confidence. They've got their claws on it and they're going to keep it rather than give it to someone else.

"It's not theirs it's ours."

Under an agreement signed 30 years ago, the government has been entitled to half the surplus cash in return for guaranteeing its value, although no money has been taken since 2015.

Previous Labour manifestos have said that the reserves of both MPS and BCSSS pensions would be released, however the 2024 manifesto only mentioned MPS.

BCSSS pension trustee Bleddyn Hancock said he believed it was an oversight, but one which urgently needed to be corrected.

"This is something we feel very strongly about," he said.

"We've earned this money, we've had to fight for the money. We've suffered for it, we've bled for it and we've died for it.

"It's our money and we want the government to end this injustice and return our money to us."

Mr Hancock said the money would increase the pensions of those in the BCSSS scheme by about fifty per cent at a time when many are struggling with the cost of living.

"We're all old. We're not saving for the future. The rainy day is here now."

Leslie Davies, 77, from Nixonville in Merthyr Vale said he was seeing former colleagues dying, and action needed to be taken soon, and equity was needed between the two pension schemes.

"I don't know why they haven't done it because we all worked in the same industry and it's time they sorted our pension out sooner rather than later," he said.

"We're dying off as a group and there are men who will not have this pension. I don't know how long it will take to have it and there'll be a few more gone."

Former miner Gareth Paine, 65, from Troedyrhiw said he thought the government "hope we go away" but "at the end of the day, we all worked in the same place and we all took the same risks".

BCSSS trustees recently met industry minister Sarah Jones, with Bleddyn Hancock saying it was a positive meeting.

"She was very sympathetic, and I think she'd like to do something about it, however the matter is now with the Treasury and we're waiting for their approval which I hope we'll get, but it's not a done deal, so the more pressure we put on the government to end this injustice the better," he said.

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said: "The British Coal Superannuation Scheme operates in a different way to the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, as agreed with the scheme trustees.

"Minister Jones recently met with the trustees of 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."