Wednesday 13th March 2008.

 

DWP Confirms Kirriemuir Firm’s Pension Scheme Help


Angus MP Mike Weir has received official confirmation from the Department of Work and Pensions that the J& D Wilkie pension scheme has qualified for inclusion in the Financial Assistance Scheme ( FAS).

The scheme is one of the first six to be included in the scheme and means that those in the scheme will now be guaranteed assistance broadly comparable to compensation paid by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Mr Weir had campaigned for such schemes to be given assistance and warmly welcomed the news.

“It was always an injustice that pensioners in such schemes were treated very differently from those where the employer had ceased to trade.”

“Officials from the FAS are now working with the trustees for the scheme to obtain individual members’ data in order to assess eligibility for assistance. There are 366 members in the scheme and this news will come as some relief to them.”

“The acceptance of such schemes into the FAS came after a long campaign. The government for a long time resisted such a move but, to their credit, once it had been decided upon have moved reasonably swiftly to include such schemes.”