Doncaster miners’ campaign praised after Government agrees to 11 per cent pension increase

Ed Miliband, MP for Doncaster North, said ministers have agreed that miners’ pensions will rise by 11 per cent instead of the previous figure of four per cent in the Autumn.

Miliband praised miners for their ‘determined campaign’ and said the news averted a ‘terrible injustice’ for them and their families.

But the MP said the group would be continuing to push for ‘fundamental changes’ to the arrangement following the recommendations of the cross-party committee report.

Miliband and 38 other MPs joined growing calls for the government to hand over more than a billion pounds in pension surpluses to retired miners in December 2021 – a promise made by Boris Johnson in the run-up to the 2019 election.

On the pension uptick, all recipients will receive an individual letter, detailing how their pension has increased, closer to the 2022 increase date of September 26, 2022.

“For years, I have been campaigning along with Barnsley MP Stephanie Peacock, who has led the work of MPs across our region, Dame Rosie Winterton and most importantly, thousands of returned miners, for justice for retired miners and their families,” Miliband said.

“This has been a campaign which seeks to put right the terrible injustice miners and their families face in the payments they get from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.

“Thanks to the determined campaign and the trustees of the scheme, HM Treasury has now accepted proposals to bring forward bonus protection for the Miners’ Pension Scheme. This will ensure that miners’ pensions increase by around 11 per cent, rather than 4 per cent, this Autumn.

“At a time of the appalling cost of living crisis facing so many, I hope this will be of some help. It would never have happened without the strong voices of mineworkers in Doncaster – it is the very least that all those who powered our country deserve – as well as their families.

“However, this does not remedy the historic injustices of ex-miners and their families. We will continue to push for fundamental changes to the arrangement, following the recommendations of the cross-party, BEIS Select Committee report.”