To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Astra Training Services; what obligation the Government have to recompense former employees for lost pension payments; and if he will make a statement. [127072]

I have been asked to reply.My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Mudie), the responsible Minister at the time, carried out a review of the Astra collapse in 1999. That review concluded that the Government did not have any case to answer to recompense former Astra employees for lost pensions. Although I have a great deal of sympathy for the situation of former Astra employees, I consider that this is a private matter between those former Astra employees and the trustees, Fountain Trustee Limited.