TransBus staff fear changes will reduce compensation

Earlier this year, the government announced a £400m package for scheme members who have lost benefits when their firms collapsed.

The government’s decision followed a sustained campaign by workers who pointed out that they would not be covered by the proposed Pension Protection Fund.

But TransBus workers – the majority of whom are members of the £18.4m Dennis Group Pension & Assurance Scheme which went into wind-up in June – fear amendments to the priority order will limit assistance to wind-ups prior to the government announcement on May 14.

Independent Trustee Services, which represents the 700-member scheme, warned that members – who stand to lose up to 60% of benefits – may receive no additional funding.

Managing director Chris Martin said ITS and scheme members were currently “lobbying very hard” to prevent this.

The department for work and pensions said the final decision on eligibility for the compensation scheme would be made after further detailed work and consultation with interested parties.

But the DWP admitted it was likely to need some cut-off point, both to make the scheme “administratively feasible” and to have some certainty about the funding arrangements.

A spokeswoman said a start date of April 1997 – the date the minimum funding requirement and a revised priority order came into force – was being considered, with the majority of cases on which information had been received falling after this date.

She added: “For schemes that may start to wind up after May 2004 prior to the PPF, the problem should be less acute.

“We have amended the priority regulations to ensure that there is a fairer sharing of assets among scheme members.”

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