Government rapped over miners' pensions

The government has been rapped for the way it is running the pension funds of thousands of miners.

The Conservatives claim over £4 billion has been taken from miners' pension funds.

The annual report from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) shows £419 million was taken out of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme funds.

The funds together are estimated to be worth £27 billion.

The government is allowed to take 50 per cent of all surpluses in the fund, in exchange for guaranteeing pensions.

However, doubt has been raised over the long-term soundness of taking surpluses.

Meanwhile, controversy has arisen over the pension funds and bonuses paid to Whitehall civil servants.

Civil servants took in some £128 million in bonuses in the last year – or over £7,000 per worker.

Senior civil servants also have a pension pot worth £150 million, claim the Liberal Democrats.

The average pension pot for the top ten civil servants is £800,000 providing a retirement income of £60,000.

This compares with a UK average pension pot of 25,000, which would provide an annual income of just £1,100.

Liberal Democrat shadow pensions secretary, Jenny Willott, said: "While many people can barely afford to save for retirement, it is difficult to justify the extraordinarily generous taxpayer contribution they are forced to pay into top mandarins’ schemes.

"These costs are clearly exorbitant compared to what the public can expect their own employers to put in. The government cannot afford to stick its head in the sand any longer over public sector pensions."

He went on to call for an independent commission to look at the options for reform of pensions for the next generation of public sector employees.