Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it remains his policy to make sure that no Mansfield miner, or any other miner signed up to the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, is out of pocket; and what his policy is on the surplus sharing arrangements for that Scheme.

The Government provides a Guarantee for the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme that ensures that:

• A member’s guaranteed pension, including inflation increases, will always be paid; and
• A member’s total pension (including bonus pension) will not fall in cash terms.

In addition, the Government has agreed to changes to the scheme rules that will protect all bonuses that have accrued to date. The Government continues to work with the scheme Trustees on implementing those changes.

The surplus sharing arrangements have worked well for all parties and I do not intend to review those arrangements.