The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, announced in the Budget today that the Labour Government will be returning the £1.5 billion investment reserve back into the Mineworkers Pension Scheme to ensure former miners receive their fair share, news that has been praised by local MP, Toby Perkins.

The Government has also committed to a review of the sharing arrangement so that miners receive their fair share.

The announcement means 1295 former mineworkers in Chesterfield will receive an immediate 32% uplift in their weekly pension, overturning an historic injustice and ensuring fair payouts for years to come.

Toby said, “Labour’s Manifesto was clear that we will deliver justice on the miners’ pensions scheme and I am delighted that the Chancellor has confirmed in her first Budget that mineworkers will have the reserves refunded to the Scheme and replace an arrangement that was out of date.

I have been campaigning throughout the fourteen years I have been an MP for the benefits of the Mineworkers pension scheme to be going to mineworkers and as soon as a Labour government is in place, it has been delivered, so I am delighted, it will make a real difference.

The Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme has 152,000 members, with the average pension for former miners in the Scheme just £84 a week. However, Central Government has received over £4 billion from the Scheme as a result of a surplus sharing arrangement set up in 1994, which gives 50% of any surplus to the Government. The changes announced in the Budget means that miners will see an immediate boost of £29 to their weekly payments, approximately £1,500 extra every year.

Toby added, “I am pleased that the changes Labour have announced will ensure former miners are better off in their retirement. It was a promise made in advance of the election and I am delighted that it has been kept in the very first budget.

This is the difference a Labour Government delivers.”