Royal Mail: Pensions

Mr. Marsden
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what independent assessment Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees have commissioned of the projected numbers of new pensioners to the fund between 2010 and 2015;

(2) what independent assessment Royal Mail pension trustees have commissioned of their fund's deficit projections between 2010 and 2015;

(3) upon what independent actuarial analysis the Chairman of the Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees based her estimate of the 2009 fund deficit.

Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 27 February 2009]: This is a matter for the Royal Mail Pension Fund trustees.

Mr. Marsden
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many meetings the Chairman of Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees has had with Ministers and officials in his Department since September 2008; and what matters relating to the Pension Fund were discussed.

Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 27 February 2009]: My noble Friend the Secretary of State has had three meetings with the Chair of the Royal Mail's Pension Fund Trustees during this period. The discussions at these meetings related to the upcoming triennial valuation and the challenges presented by the large deficit in the scheme.

Mr. Drew
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform who the trustees of the Royal Mail Pension Fund are; what recent discussions he has had with those trustees on the status of the pension fund; and when he was first informed of the recent report issued by the trustees on the fund deficit.

Mr. McFadden
Royal Mail Pension Trustees Ltd. are the trustees of the Royal Mail pension plan. Its board comprises an independent chair, Jane Newell OBE, plus ten other members, five nominated by Royal Mail Group (of which two are independent), four nominated by the unions and one is selected by a pensioner ballot.

My noble Friend the Secretary of State has had three meetings with the chair of the Royal Mail Pension Plan Trustees since September 2008. The discussions at these meeting related to the upcoming triennial valuation and the challenges presented by the large deficit in the scheme.

My noble Friend the Secretary of State was updated by the chair of the Trustees on the current position of the fund in her letter of 19 February 2009.

Mr. Marsden
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether there has been a meeting of the Royal Mail Pension Fund Trustees to discuss the Fund's deficit, since the Secretary of State's recent meeting with the Chairman of Trustees.

Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 2 March 2009]: This is a matter for the Royal Mail Pension Fund trustees.

Mr. Marsden
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what mechanisms his Department plans to use to assess the (a) financial strength and (b) current and future pension funding liabilities for existing employees of overseas companies expressing interest in a minority shareholding in Royal Mail.

Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 2 March 2009]: Negotiations with companies interested in entering into a partnership with Royal Mail will be commercially sensitive. The Government will use the following criteria to judge potential partners’ suitability:

the price offered for a minority stake or partnership and their ability to finance the investment;

ability to add value to Royal Mail as a whole, including by assisting in the transformation of Royal Mail’s letters business and the modernisation of its network; and

capacity to manage stakeholder issues successfully, including relations with trade unions.