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04-Aug-08 11:15 [Pensions]
Review into pension fund withdrawals wanted by Tories The Conservative Party today demanded a review of "extremely odd" government withdrawals after it was found that over £4 billion has been taken from miners' pension funds, it has emerged.
A report from the Financial Times said that the "siphoned" money comes from the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS), from which £419 million was taken last year.
The news provider added that the government is allowed to do this due to an agreement with the unions upon the coal industry's privatisation in 1994, meaning that 50 per cent of all surplus pension funds could be taken providing that the pensions were secured for the workers.
However, experts have labelled these surpluses "because the funds' liabilities are understated", with independent pensions consultant John Ralfe telling the newspaper that there was a £900 million deficit at the last valuation and not a £1.9 billion surplus as the government reported.
Last month the Financial Times also reported that the MPS and BCSSS together are the UK's largest funded pension scheme by pensioners and the third largest by assets at £27 billion.
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