Help for bust pensions increased

ASW workers hope to benefit from the new scheme

The UK government has boosted financial help for employees who have lost their pensions because their scheme has gone bust or ceased to exist.

The improvement to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), is part of wider proposals within the pensions White Paper, revealed on Thursday.

Funding for the scheme is set to be increased from £400m to £2.3bn.

The scheme will be expanded so that a further 22,000 to 30,000 people will be able to benefit from it.

"We recognised the real hardship many people faced in retirement through no fault of their own," said James Purnell, Minister for Pensions Reform.

The cover under the scheme has been extended from 3 to 15 years, on a sliding scale.

Among those hoping to benefit from the new proposal are workers whose pensions were affected when Allied Steel and Wire collapsed.

The firm collapsed in July 2002, prompting most of the Cardiff-based workers to lose their pensions.