Support our Nation today - please donate here
Opinion

Welsh MPs call on Westminster spending watchdog to look into possible Port Talbot pensions mis-selling

12 Oct 2021 2 minute read
Picture by Matt Jones (CC BY 2.0)

Welsh MPs have called on Westminster’s spending watchdog to look into a lack of action by the financial sector regulator over the possible mis-selling of pensions in Port Talbot.

Stephen Kinnock and Nick Smith want the National Audit Office to investigate the Financial Conduct Authority which they say has failed to get to grips with a scandal.

More than 2,000 current and former steelworkers transferred out of their final-salary schemes but now fear that the financial advice they received may have been unsuitable.

Nick Smith told the Financial Times that their experience of the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the issue had “been one of delay and failure to lead”.

“It is estimated that thousands of steelworkers were given bad transfer advice and lost tens of thousands of pounds as a result,” the MP for Blaenau Gwent said.

“The National Audit Office needs to investigate how this has been handled.”

Stephen Kinnock, the MP for Aberavon, added that it was “time to draw a line under the scandal”.

Between 2017 and 2018, around 7,700 members of the British Steel Pension Scheme transferred to stock market-based pension arrangements.

However, in June 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority said a review had found that only a fifth of the recommendations to British Steel Pension Scheme members to transfer were suitable.

They are advising those affected to seek compensation.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dave
Dave
3 years ago

like him or loathe him Kinnock is stepping up for the steel workers. Lets hope that he wins against the Tory donors and Bo Jo the clowns chums

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
3 years ago
Reply to  Dave

The article says that Kinnock said it was ‘time to draw a line under the scandal’. Doesn’t that mean he considers further investigation of the scandal should stop? He may want the FCA investigated but how does that help the workers who’ve lost thousands? Or was he misquoted?

Last edited 3 years ago by Huw Davies

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.