FORMER mineworkers are to receive an increase to their pensions as of yesterday, with each miner getting an extra £100 per week on average.

Payments will be backdated to November 2024, when the increase to the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme was implemented, so members should receive a £5,500 lump sum on average.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s autumn Budget included a promise that the £2.3 billion reserve, previously held by the government since 1994, would be given to members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS).

Cheryl Agius, chair of trustees of the BCSSS, said: “This is a historic moment – the result of a year of determination, advocacy and collaboration – and it marks a turning point for the scheme.”

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Chris Kitchen welcomed the announcement.

He told the Star: “It will see another 40,000 BCSSS pensioners and their widows getting the benefit of the money they paid into their pension scheme.

“The increase will benefit them, their families and the communities they live in where most will be spending it.

“It will also benefit the UK as most, if not all, will be paying income tax on the increase.”