Mineworkers Pension Scheme increases come each autumn: the guaranteed part of your pension rose 3.0% from 21 September 2026, and bonus pensions are separate.

How much does the Mineworkers Pension Scheme pension increase each year?

The Scheme's news item of 31 July 2026 says: "This year, your Guaranteed Pension is increasing by 3.0% from 21 September 2026." Each year that part of your pension rises in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation. How it is measured is set out in the Scheme's Report and Accounts: the review follows the percentage change in RPI over the year to June, and the increase date normally falls in September or October.

Your yearly rise, a frozen bonus and the State Pension add up to one income. A call-back costs nothing, comes from an FCA-authorised adviser, and has the form on this page as its starting point.

Before that, the guaranteed pension rose 4.4% from 22 September 2025 and 2.9% from 23 September 2024, according to the Scheme's annual accounts for those years. The rise is worked out from inflation, not from how the Scheme's investments have done, because those pensions carry a guarantee: when British Coal was privatised in 1994, the government agreed to take half of any surplus "in return for a guarantee that pensions would increase in line with inflation".

What does the yearly rise cover, and what does it leave out?

Your pension is made of parts, and the rise is not the same for each. The Scheme sends a pension increase letter every year explaining the parts and how much the increase is.

  • Guaranteed pension. This is the part linked to RPI. The 2024 Report and Accounts says guaranteed pensions are reviewed annually "in excess of any Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) element".
  • Guaranteed Minimum Pension. Where you have one, it is counted within your Scheme pension, and the Scheme says that for most members increases on the GMP are paid separately from increases on the rest of the pension. The Report and Accounts say no increase is payable by the Scheme on GMP for membership before 5 April 1988, and that the Scheme will pay the first 3% of any annual cost of living increase due on GMP for membership after that date. For how GMP rises are shared with the State, see does a guaranteed minimum pension increase.
  • Bonus pensions. These do not rise with inflation at all, as the next section explains.

How do Mineworkers Pension Scheme bonus pensions work?

A bonus pension is paid out of surplus money, and the Scheme states plainly that "this new bonus pension will not increase, just like your existing bonus pensions". It is set as a percentage of the guaranteed pension and then stays at that amount.

Two bonuses were added in 2024. After the 2023 valuation the Scheme announced a bonus of 19% of the guaranteed pension, effective from 23 September 2024. The second came when the government transferred the Investment Reserve to members: the Scheme's notice of 30 October 2024 says the new bonus "will be 32% of a member's guaranteed pension", backdated to 18 November, with first payments on 29 November 2024 for people paid every four weeks. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero put the uplift at an average of £29 a week for each member, across nearly 112,000 former mineworkers and their dependants. How the surplus and the reserve produced those bonuses is covered in Mineworkers Pension Scheme surplus sharing.

The Scheme's 2024 newsletter gave a simplified example of a member's weekly pension: a guaranteed pension of £88.00 became £90.55 with the 2.9% rise, while a bonus awarded before 2024 stayed unchanged and the new 2024 bonus was added on top. These are example figures, not a promise about yours.

Will there be a new Mineworkers bonus pension in 2026?

No. The trustees' statement of 28 October 2026 says the Government would not let the undistributed surplus be used now, so "no bonus pension will be paid this year". The same statement says Blair McDougall MP, the minister responsible for the Scheme, "confirmed that bonus pensions paid since 2024, and any future bonuses, will be protected and can't be taken away". In his Budget speech that day the Chancellor promised that the whole of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners; the trustees' statement says this ends the 50/50 split for any future valuation surplus. Where that leaves later valuations is covered on the surplus sharing page.

When does the Mineworkers pension increase arrive?

You are paid the rise in the autumn, according to the Scheme, and a letter confirms it. The July 2026 notice says the trustees will write in October with the exact rise and your new pension amount. If you need to tell the Department for Work and Pensions or your local authority that your pension is going up, the Scheme's advice in 2024 was to wait until your letter arrives.

The new amount is then paid on your usual cycle, so the day it reaches your account depends on whether you are paid every four weeks, quarterly or yearly; the dates are on the payment dates page. Wider rules on rises in other schemes are in whether final salary pensions increase, and the general idea of this kind of pension is in what a final salary pension is.

Mineworkers pension rise questions

Does the Mineworkers pension go up with inflation?

The guaranteed part is: the Scheme says it increases in line with RPI. Bonus pensions are not.

What was the Mineworkers pension pay rise in 2023?

The guaranteed pension rose 10.7% from 25 September 2023, the Scheme's 2023 newsletter says. That was the largest of the recent rises; the 19% and 32% bonuses came the following year.

Will I get a pay rise letter?

Yes. The Scheme sends a pension increase letter every year setting out the parts of your pension and the increase. In 2025 the letter came in September; for 2026 the Scheme said it would write in October.

Did earlier bonuses shrink when the guaranteed pension rose?

Not in 2024 or 2025. The Scheme's accounts for both years say that, because protection of bonus pensions was brought forward, bonuses previously in standstill were not reduced, so total pensions rose by the equivalent of the guaranteed rise, excluding any GMP. The trustees' October 2026 statement says standstill has now been abolished.

Not sure where the October letter's figure sits among your other income? Leave your details and the adviser who rings back, FCA-authorised, will go through it free.