DWP Committee questions to TPR over “staggering, parlous state” of Railways Pension Scheme

The Work and Pensions Committee has written to TPR with questions on its engagement with the Railways Pensions Scheme, carrying a reported funding gap of £5-6bn, after the Stagecoach group was disqualified from three major UK rail franchise competitions on Friday.

Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “While the staggering, parlous state of the Railways Pension Scheme is anything but welcome, the one positive here is the clear signal from Government to industry of further, heavy consequences for so badly mismanaging a pension scheme.

“In the wake of Carillion it is encouraging to see Government now taking public service provider pension schemes more seriously. Today we’ve written to TPR to see what they’ve done so far with this mess, and what the threat of further action by them can achieve to protect pensioners.”