Lothian families of ex-miners to receive '£1,500' boost after UK pension scandal

Ex-miners across the Lothians will receive a pension boost after the Labour Government agreed to offer over £10million a year to end the pension scandal.

Around 7,000 former Scottish miners will get a boost to their pensions after chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed the £1.5 billion mineworkers’ pension fund would be given to impacted miners and their families.

The announcement comes from a perceived unjust arrangement which allowed the UK Government to take half of their pension surplus, the Daily Record reports.

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A government review will also ensure former miners and their families get a fairer deal in the years ahead, with next steps set out in the coming months.

Following Reeves' announcement, 6,884 former miners in Scotland will now receive an average £1,500 boost to their pensions. This is an 32 per cent boost to annual pensions. The typical increase is £29 a week.

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The UK Government will pay out £200k each week to the former Scots miners, amounting to £10.4m each year. Scotland Office minister and MP for the mining community of Midlothian, Kirsty McNeill said the money was "back where it belongs".

She told the Record: “Miners powered Scotland for decades. In my constituency of Midlothian and other coalfield communities across the country, thousands of workers made the treacherous journey below ground to mine the coal which kept our factories running and the lights on at home.

“As the miners’ memorial in Dalkeith says, they spent their lives in the dark so that others might have light. For decades, it has been a scandal that the government has taken money that could have been passed to those who needed it most. It’s right that the money is back where it belongs, in the pockets of miners and their families.

“Campaigners have spent years fighting for pensions justice and I am delighted this Labour government set about delivering this change as soon as we were elected. Almost 7,000 retired miners in Scotland will see their pension jump by £1,500 on average. That will make a real difference to so many people in Midlothian and across Scotland's proud mining communities.”

When the Conservative Government privatised British Coal in 1994, it struck a deal that entitled it to half the surplus cash from the pension scheme in return for a guarantee that miners’ pensions would rise in line with inflation.

But the scheme has continued to produce strong returns – meaning the UK government has received £4.8 billion over the last 30 years without paying any funds into it.

Former miners and their families argued for decades that money intended for miners’ retirements should be in former miners’ pockets rather than the government’s coffers.

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McNeill's Midlothian seat has the most ex-miners who will receive the boost, with 952. Some 849 will get it in Glenrothes and Mid Fife, while 824 will in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy. In Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock there are 692 recipients, 640 in Dunfermline and Dollar, and 469 in Alloa and Grangemouth.

Kilmarnock and Loudon, Lothian East, Bathgate and Linlithgow, Stirling and Strathallan, and Airdrie and Shotts have hundreds of former miners receiving the payments. Seven other constituencies had over 100 people getting the boost.