Chancellor, John Healey, has announced that "every penny" of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) surplus will go to former miners, ending the government's longstanding entitlement to half of the scheme's investment surplus.

Delivering his first Budget today, Healey confirmed that the remaining surplus would be returned to scheme members, following years of campaigning over the pension arrangements introduced when British Coal was privatised in 1994.

Under the original agreement, the government guaranteed that members' pensions would not fall in value in exchange for receiving 50 per cent of any investment surplus the scheme generated.

Former mineworkers and campaign groups have long criticised the arrangement, arguing that the surplus should be used to improve members' retirement incomes rather than retained by the government.

The latest announcement builds on measures introduced by former Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the previous two Budgets to address what the government described as a "historic injustice" suffered by former mineworkers.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, Reeves confirmed that the MPS investment reserve fund, worth £1.5bn, would be transferred to scheme members.

The move increased annual pensions by an average of 32 per cent for nearly 112,000 former mineworkers and their dependants, equivalent to an additional £29 per week.

As previously reported by Pensions Age, members began receiving the increased payments in December 2024.

Reeves later announced that the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) investment reserve would also be transferred for members' benefit.

However, campaigners continued to call for further changes to the MPS surplus-sharing arrangements, arguing that former mineworkers should receive the full benefit of the scheme's investment returns.

The National Mineworkers Pension Campaign had been among those calling for the remaining surplus to be released as soon as possible, with concerns raised that many elderly members could die before receiving further increases.

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