FOREST MP Diana Organ MP has won a pledge from Energy Minister Brian Wilson that he would look again at the case of Forest of Dean miners who failed to qualify for the pension compensation scheme.
Mrs Organ intervened in the main debate and again in the Minister's summing up to argue that some of the compensation scheme money should be used to pay Forest of Dean miners who lost out due to the closure of Northern United.
The shutting down of the mine at the end of 1961 left miners three months short of the five years' membership of the scheme needed to qualify for payments.
At present the Government is still trying to trace miners with five years' membership who are entitled to payments. The scheme has so far paid out £60 million of the £90 million set aside.
The Minister wants to trace as many qualifying miners as possible but has also promised that he will look into Mrs Organ's request that Forest miners should have a payout from money left in the pot.
Mrs Organ said: "I was pleased with the Minister's reply to my intervention. I have asked Parliamentary Questions on this issue and discovered that there is around £30 million untouched in the fund and the scheme ends soon.
"The Government is still trying to find miners who are entitled to this money but the Minister has also promised to look into the case of miners in the Forest of Dean.
"There are around a dozen former miners who responded to my request to get in touch on this issue and I will continue to lobby for compensation for them."