Hemel Hempstead MP, Mike Penning, spoke in the House of Commons yesterday urging the Government to do more for Dexion pensioners. During a debate on Pension Reform, Mike Penning spoke about the need to rebuild confidence in the UK pensions system and that one way to do this would be to ensure that pensioners who have had their pensions stolen receive adequate compensation.
Over 125,000 people have lost their pensions – pensions that they had worked for all their lives – and 700 of them, many former employees at Dexion, live in Hemel Hempstead. Mike Penning referred to the recent report from the independent Parliamentary Ombudsman which condemned the Government for giving inaccurate information relating to the security of people’s pension schemes. The fact that the Government has ignored this report contributes to the lack of confidence people have in the pension system – let alone confidence in the role of Parliamentary Ombudsman. Government advice misled Dexion workers, and others, into thinking that their pensions would be safe – even if the pension scheme was wound up. Mike called on the Government to use the estimated £15 billion that is sitting around in unclaimed assets to compensate Dexion pensioners and restore people’s faith in pensions. “The Chancellor wants to use some of that money for worthy causes and I cannot think of a worthier cause than repairing the damage to people’s pensions,” Mike said. Mike went on to call for the Government to look at individual cases rather than treating the whole situation as one problem. It would also have a better chance at calculating the actual cost of compensation – current estimates vary considerably from the £15 billion suggested by the Prime Minister to the more conservative £3 to £4 billion that could be spread over 50 years.
The current compensation system – the financial assistance scheme - is not working. Only 5 of the 700 cases in Hemel Hempstead have qualified. “The Dexion pensioners and their families are suffering and the longer we take to sort out his mess the worse it gets,” said Mike after the debate. “The Government have a duty to help these hardworking people who contributed towards their pensions all their working lives”. “No pension system can regain the confidence of the public until this situation is resolved,” he added. | 
