UK – The £9.6bn (€13.8bn) British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme is looking for a new trustee to replace civil servant Ann Taylor.

The scheme said the Department of Trade Industry has decided that BCSSS trustees “should primarily be professional”.

This was to ensure that the board had the “highest calibre” of knowledge and understanding of pensions issues.

Taylor’s term of office ends on September 30. She took over from Peter Vaughan last year, according to the scheme’s most recent annual report.

It said it is “now looking for a new trustee with deep experience of pension benefits. Investment knowledge whilst helpful is not an essential pre-requisite”.

It added: “The change means that for the first time since privatisation in 1994, the trustee board will no longer contain a DTI civil servant.”

The change is also being made in the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme where an individual has already been selected for interview.

Contact David Morgan, chief executive of Coal Pension Trustees Services Ltd.

Although the management committee members are paid £10,000 a year, Taylor and Vaughan were not paid because they are civil servants.

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