About the Scheme
The Nottinghamshire and District
Miners’ Pension Scheme was created by Nottinghamshire Union Leader, George Alfred
Spencer. It was formally constituted in a Trust Deed dated 1 October 1939.
The purpose of the Scheme was to
provide retirement pensions for day wage mineworkers engaged in eligible
employment, carrying qualifying activity in the former Nottinghamshire Wages
District. Members did not pay any contributions whilst at work in the District
in order to qualify for benefits, although please see the section of the
website on “Who is Eligible for Benefit” for more detailed information.
A mineworker had to be a day wage
miner to be entitled to benefit, but not all day-wage men were eligible. What
constituted eligible employment has been determined by the Pension Board from
time to time over the period of the Scheme’s existence. Similarly, what
constitutes a “qualifying activity” has been clarified and determined by the
Board during its long period of operation.
There have been various sponsoring
employers since 1939, but the main one was British Coal, formerly the National
Coal Board, which supported the Scheme from 1947 until the privatisation of the
coal industry in December 1994.