Normanton and Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett has vowed to continue fighting for former miners to receive their full pension entitlement.

The Government is looking to release around £1.2billion from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.

Mr Trickett said he had told miners that he would support them.

He said: “The miners have my assurance that I will stand by them and their just demand to get their full pension entitlement.

Jon Trickett, the Member of Parliament for Normanton and Hemsworth. Picture Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Jon Trickett, the Member of Parliament for Normanton and Hemsworth. Picture Tony Johnson.

"The Chancellor has said he expects to resolve the issue in weeks not months and he is in no doubt where I stand.

"It’s a matter of honour to me.”

The dispute follows the Budget, when Chancellor John Healey announced an end to the arrangement under which the Government received half of future surpluses from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.

Mr Healey told the Commons: “For ex-mineworkers, I’m guaranteeing that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners.

“I know the job’s not done and I will go on to ensure the full transfer of the Guarantors Fund.”

In the Budget document, the Government said it would work with the trustees towards the full transfer of the remaining Guarantor’s Fund.

The trustees said Government officials had told them shortly before the Budget that the remaining surplus would not be transferred immediately.

In a statement, they said: “The government has still not agreed to transfer the undistributed surplus funds to members immediately. These funds will stay unused in the scheme and no bonus pension will be paid this year.”

The National Union of Mineworkers has also called for the remaining money to be released.

In a statement, NUM general secretary Chris Kitchen welcomed the end of the surplus-sharing arrangement but said the union was disappointed that the Government had not also found a way to release the money in the Guarantor’s Fund.

He said: “The money in the MPS Guarantor’s Fund is not taxpayers’ money, it is the remaining ill-gotten gains from an unfair system put in place that has penalised members of the MPS for the last 31 years.

“We know that the Chancellor recognises this and we have confidence that he will continue to look to release the guarantors fund at the earliest opportunity, and that time is not on the side of MPS pensioners.”