Treasury bars way to APW pensioners help

11.18.16am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 27th Jun 2006

Commenting on the refusal of Treasury Chief Secretary Stephen Timms MP to meet with Local MPs Chris Huhne MP for Eastleigh said:

"This is a bitterly disappointing letter for APW pensioners and all of us who have campaigned for them."

"The Treasury appears to be blocking all progress but the APW pensioners have right on their side. The reality is that the Government has a moral responsibility to pensioners whose schemes it regulated. It is outrageous that some local pensioners, through no fault of their own, transferred cash into the APW scheme when they moved jobs and have now lost 80% of their pension savings. We will go on fighting for the APW pensioners to be covered by the Financial Assistance Scheme - which excludes all pension funds where the employer is still solvent. I am astonished that the Treasury Minister is not even prepared to entertain a meeting with a cross party delegation of South Hampshire MPs and others MPs representing constituents similarly affected.