A former miner leading a decade-long fight for pensions justice warns that further delays in government payouts would be devastating for ex-pit workers, as crucial talks with the government are set to take place.
A Nottinghamshire ex-miner who has led a pensions battle for over a decade says any further delay in the government boosting payouts would be 'soul-destroying'.
Former pit workers across the country have already received a pensions boost under the Labour government after years of fighting, but millions could still be taken every year from their pot without the 'final piece of the puzzle' being solved . Campaigners now understand that an announcement on delivering final pensions justice could be made in the Autumn budget - a significant wait, given that around 500 members of the main miners' pension scheme die every month.
A crucial meeting between the trustees of that main scheme and the government will take place on Thursday and Mick Newton says it marks the 'last chance' to ensure there is no further delay. Mr Newton, 62, who spent years working at the Thoresby Colliery before leading the fight on pensions justice, said: 'This is really the last chance mineworkers will get to make representations to the government before the next fiscal event, so it's an absolutely essential meeting.
'We have to keep making our representations to make sure this doesn't slip under the radar again, so there's a lot riding on this. 'It would be devastating if this was pushed beyond the autumn budget. It would really suck the soul out of many of the mineworkers who have been fighting for years and years.
'But we've been campaigning for over a decade and we're not going to pack up now, so the mood in the coalfields is still optimistic. ' Ex-miners are covered either by the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme or the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme - with the latter looking after former management and technical staff who mostly started and finished on the coalface.
When both schemes were set up, the government was keen that some money should be held in reserve so that there was always enough cash to pay out to members. However, far more reserve money was built up in both funds than ever needed and government changes so far have led to more than £1 billion being transferred back to the MPS and more than £2 billion transferred back to the BCSSS.
The final piece of the puzzle surrounds surplus sharing arrangements, where any surplus money generated by the pension schemes is divvied up between members and the government. The government has pledged to review both the MPS arrangements, which involve a 50/50 split, and the BCSSS arrangements, which are even more unjust, given that all surplus money now goes straight to the government.
Mr Newton said: 'We thought it was all over in 2024 when we got the investment reserve fund back, but it wasn't to be.
'I think the government thought that just transferring the funds was the end of the injustice, but it wasn't. The root cause of the injustice has always been the surplus sharing arrangements.
' On a visit to Mansfield to speak to ex-miners in December 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves would not be drawn when asked by Nottinghamshire Live exactly when the final miners' pensions injustice would be rectified. Yet the Chancellor did say: 'The next step is to continue to work with the MPs and the campaigners and the trade unions, but I think people can see that this is a government that acts to address injustices.
'Last year in the budget, I returned the surplus to members of the MPS and this year on the BCSSS scheme. We're working with MPs to make sure that people get the retirement income they deserve. '
Miners' Pensions Government Payouts Campaign Nottinghamshire
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