Tony WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings she has held with trustees of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme in the last year; when the meetings were held; and what subjects were discussed. [170329]
§ Nigel GriffithsI met the Trustees of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, along with those of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, on 30 March 2004. We discussed the Government's commitment to the pension schemes, including the Guarantee arrangements and the agreement to award RPI increases to members despite there being deficits in both schemes.
The Trustees reiterated their view that the Government Guarantee negotiated in 1994 allows them to take a balanced amount of risk in their investments helping the funds to grow and pay around 30 per cent. bonuses to scheme members. Without the Guarantee the Trustees would have had to follow a much more cautious investment strategy that would not have generated the surpluses we have seen.