Dear Sir,

The scale of the Treasury windfall from miners' pension fund surpluses shocked many miners, ex-miners and their families in the North West when it emerged last year. But the rake-off goes - in the last year alone, another £1 billion has been earmarked for the Treasury.

That adds up to around £5 billion so far.

The Treasury gets this money because of a 1994 agreement brokered by the previous Conservative government. The deal was that in exchange for guaranteeing pension increases in line with inflation, the Treasury could take up to half of any surpluses. This is far too much when the risk is so small and many retired miners and their widows continue to exist on the edges of poverty.

We have just had four years of Labour government and nothing has yet been done to address this injustice. There can be no justification for continuing to take such huge sums from the fund surpluses year on year.

Back in 1999, we launched a campaign to return these surpluses to where they rightfully belong - to miners and their families. MPs and ministers were lobbied. New MPs and new ministers now need to have the issues spelt out again.

If others have let it slip down the agenda, it is time to remind them of how important this is.

If you are one of the 50,000 members of the coal industry schemes, your help is needed once again to bring pressure to bear. Most coalfield MPs already support this campaign but you can help strengthen their resolve by dropping them a line. (House of Commons, London SW1 0AA)

We already have a list of over 800 pensioners and would like to contact many more.

If you have not contacted CCC about this issue in the past, write to us at the address below and we will keep you informed of developments and put you in touch with CCC representatives in your area.

Coun Terry O'Neil

Chairman

CCC Miners Pension Campaign Committee