§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much he has paid out in respect of the Bus Employees' Superannuation Trust and the National Bus Pension Fund, pursuant to the investigation carried out by the Pensions Ombudsman; when these moneys were paid; who he has charged with responsibility for distributing these moneys to members of these funds; how he will hold them accountable; and when he expects the moneys to be fully distributed. [142749]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 14 December 2000]: As announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in a written answer on 15 June 1999, Official Report, columns 85–86W, the negotiated settlement of this long-running dispute involved a total payment of £355.77 million. This litigation followed an investigation by the Pensions Ombudsman into an agreement in 1986 between the National Bus Company and the then Government which had resulted in the payment to the Government in 1990 of the surpluses of the two NBC pension funds.
The settlement was approved by the High Court on 30 July last year and the entire settlement sum was paid over to the trustees of the funds immediately following
Year South west Former county of Avon Bath and North East Somerset UA Bristol UA North Somerset UA South Gloucestershire UA 1991 19,225 4,525 538 516 503 2,968 1992 15,703 2,234 328 341 193 1,372 1993 15,004 2,006 166 198 506 1,136 1994 16,169 1— 211 1— 802 1,171 1995 17,145 1— 363 1— 529 1,167 1996 16,420 1— 424 1— 952 1,232 1997 18,705 1— 474 1— 1,676 2,366 1998 16,452 1— 451 381 1— 1,681 1999 15,955 1— 345 257 1— 1,430 20002 7,963 1— 126 58 1— 1— 1Indicates that returns are not available from the local authority for all months of the year. 2January to June Estimates for non-response are included in the regional total but are not available for the county.