Field calls on Green to cough up more cash for BHS pensions

A SENIOR MP has demanded Sir Philip Green plough more money into the BHS pension scheme if £15m is shifted back to the billionaire as part of his £363m settlement agreement.

Labour veteran Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee, said the agreement struck between the Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the retail tycoon would see £15m returned to Sir Philip if 90% of eligible pension fund members take a winding-up lump sum instead of buying an annuity.

Analysis by the committee suggests the Arcadia boss could receive as much as £13m even if as many as 20% decide against taking the lump sum.

Its findings also show that 16 BHS executives with the largest pensions will benefit the most from the out-ofcourt settlement because they will not see their benefits capped, which would have occurred if the scheme had fallen into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

It comes after Sir Philip made a voluntary personal cash payment of £343m towards improved benefits to the pension scheme members, and made available an additional £20m towards implementation costs.

It follows the collapse of BHS, which impacted 11,000 jobs and around 19,000 pension holders.

Mr Field said: “I hope Sir Philip will recycle any refund back into the scheme as BHS pensioners will still be facing cuts in the benefits for which they paid.

“It is also clear that Sir Philip prioritised his loyal senior managers, who have had the PPF cap on high pension benefits completely removed.

“That measure was designed to encourage those in positions of influence to urge prudence and responsibility; I would be worried if TPR was content to see it jettisoned as a matter of course.

“Those who do far less well out of the settlement are the ordinary staff of working age, many of whom will have lost their jobs as well.

“HMRC will not tell us what the tax implications of this settlement are but I fervently hope the public purse will not be missing out in the same way it does by the Greens’ complex offshore business arrangements.”

Sir Philip said last month the agreement amount, less than the £571m deficit the firm was left with when it went bust in April last year, represents a “significantly better” outcome than if the scheme entered the PPF.

The settlement will allow pensioners the option to receive entitlements at the level they were promised by the BHS scheme.

Current pensioners who have received lower pension benefits since March 2016, because of the PPF level of compensation being paid, will now have the opportunity to receive lump sums.

The Topshop owner was grilled by MPs over the sale of the chain, which he owned for 15 years before offloading it for £1 to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell in 2015.

The fallout from the chain’s collapse sparked a lengthy parliamentary inquiry and left both its high-profile former owners potentially facing a criminal investigation.