§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of former miners who were working in Staffordshire in the 1980s lost their jobs but were not entitled payments from the pension fund. [29401]
§ Mr. WilsonNone. All former British Coal miners when reaching pensionable age, whether dismissed or not, are entitled to the pension benefits they have accrued whilst in employment.
I announced on 11 December that certain miners dismissed during the 1984–85 strike, would receive an enhancement to their pension in recognition of the years of further service they lost as a result of British Coal's decision not to re-employ them.