§ Adam PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Department has been given Treasury approval to retain surpluses payable to it out of 67W the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme during the last five years to offset expenditure on liabilities inherited from British Coal. [164382]
§ Nigel Griffiths[holding answer 29 March 2004]: No. The Government's share of any valuation surplus from the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme is released over a 10-year period and paid directly into the Consolidated Fund as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts.