Ex-mineworker 'elated' at £2.3bn pension release

Stuart Porthouse said he was "elated" at the news

A former mineworker said he was "elated" when the government announced it will share out surplus pension fund money held for over 30 years.

Stuart Porthouse from Sunderland, who spent 32 years working at five collieries in north-east England, said Rachel Reeves' Budget announcement that members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) will receive £2.3bn will allow people to "enjoy the rest of their lives".

The cash has been held by the government since 1994 when the mining industry was privatised.

Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington and a former president of the National Union of Mineworkers, said it was "fantastic news".

Reeves announced in last year's Budget that members of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) would receive extra payments, but at the time nothing was guaranteed for BCSSS members.

The latter scheme includes miners and others who worked across the industry such as engineers, draftsmen and canteen workers.

Ian Lavery said former mine workers "deserved a lot better"

Mr Porthouse, who had worked his way up to chief engineer in his mining career and had paid into the scheme until 1994, said the money always belonged to the workers.

On the Budget announcement, he said: "[I was] elated, I was really happy, not so much just for myself because I was chief engineer so I wasn't the lowest paid person in the scheme.

"It's been very difficult because the average age of BCSSS is 77 and most of us have illnesses related to mining and suffer from it.

"Any money that people get is going to help them to enjoy the rest of their lives."

Responding to the announcement, Lavery said: "People who gave their all in the mining industry, who built these communities, deserved a lot better.

"This in many ways is the miner's deferred wages.

"People deserve the money and, you know what, they could do with the money in these hard times."