We have published the resolution below in full:
Cllr Rob Crute (Blackhall): Durham County
Council, 22 March 2017:
Resolution re: Mineworkers Pension Scheme fund
surpluses:
Durham County Council views
with concern the arrangement whereby the Treasury receives 50% of surpluses
from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme, accumulating since 1994 to an estimated £3.4
billion, a sum taken from people and communities that are least able to afford
it and one that is out of any realistic proportion to the risk taken by the
guarantors.
The first priority of Durham County Council is the regeneration of the county and this includes ensuring the prosperity of its people and communities. The effect of the arrangement between the government and the trustees of the MPS and BCSSS as detailed above has a directly negative impact on the prosperity of pensioners, deferred pensioners and their families across the county. In turn this acts as a barrier to economic growth and prosperity in our communities.
Durham County Council acknowledges and is grateful for the significant contribution successive generations of Durham miners and their families made to the economy of County Durham, and in recognition supports the UK Miners’ Pension Scheme Association in demanding justice and fairness on the issue of pension fund surpluses.
In compounding the unfairness of the current arrangement the government and British Coal failed to pay into the Mineworkers’ Pension Fund by means of a contributions holiday from 1987 to 1994 resulting in a £4.7bn shortfall to the MPS. In addition successive governments have benefited excessively from the scheme by exploiting the 1994 pre-privatisation pension arrangements that resulted in an additional £4.2bn being taken from the investment surpluses.
As a consequence it is estimated that the government will eventually receive in excess of £8bn from the current arrangement (figure taken from an Early Day Motion tabled in November 2016 by Alan Meale MP).
Consequently this council resolves:
·
to
support the campaign of the UK Miners’ Pension Scheme Association (for Justice
& Fair Play)
·
to
call on the Public Accounts Committee to carry out an investigation into the
circumstances of the current agreement between the government and pension
scheme trustees
·
to
support the campaign to renegotiate the terms of the agreement between the
government and trustees of the MPS to ensure a more realistic percentage share
of surpluses which more accurately reflects the guarantors’ risk
·
to
demand the return of all money owed to MPS members, deferred members and their
families
·
to
submit correspondence supportive of the campaign to relevant government departments
and Members of Parliament
Cllr Rob Crute, March 2017
