437 former mineworkers in Cumbria – including 304 in Whitehaven and Workington – will this month begin to receive an uplift in their weekly pension, overturning an historic injustice.
The payment follows the Government’s reversal of an historic injustice.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Budget that the Government would scrap a 30-year arrangement that saw the government receive hundreds of millions of pounds a year from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme – a total of £1.5 billion.
Former mineworkers will receive money in their pockets this month and it represents an average 32% rise to the annual pensions of 112,000 former mineworkers and their dependents across the UK – an average increase of £29 per week for each member.
Josh MacAlister, Whitehaven and Workington MP, said: “I am delighted that from this month, hundreds of former mineworkers in West Cumbria will be receiving a significant uplift in their pensions.
“It is a national scandal that former miners in our area have had to fight for so long for the pension settlement they deserve.
“This marks a victory for the relentless campaigning of the trustees, members, and coalfield communities, and will make an immediate difference to people in Whitehaven and Workington and across Cumbria.”
