Conduct Of The Honourable Member For Milton Keynes South West And Hillsdown Holdings

EDM number 1173 in 1995-96, proposed by Harry Cohen on 16/07/1996.

That this House notes that the Chairman and Company Secretary of the Hillsdown pension trustees was the honourable Member for Milton Keynes South West who is discredited by the Hillsdown Holdings affair; notes the High Court decision supported the Pensions Ombudsman, Dr Julian Ferrand, in declaring that Hillsdown Holdings acted illegally in taking ú18.4 million from the Fatstock Marketing Corporation pension scheme which it took over in 1983; further notes that Mr Justice Knox criticised Hillsdown for putting undue pressure on trustees to force them to agree to the plan and that despite the pension fund roles denying the employer any power or rights over the surplus, Hillsdown switched the assets and members of the Fatstock fund into another scheme where no such restrictions applied; further notes that Hillsdown also threatened to flood the old scheme with new members if the trustees refused, a course of action which was almost certainly illegal but which intimidated the trustees who feared it might lead to a cut in pensions; also notes that the Pensions Ombudsman has ruled that the trustees have been guilty of maladministration and a breach of trust and ordered Hillsdown to pay back to the pension fund ú30 million taking into account accumulated interest; calls on the former Cabinet Minister, Sir John Nott, who is Chairman of Hillsdown, to arrange for this repayment; and calls upon the Government, which failed to give proper backing to the Pensions Ombudsman following his ruling, to announce what action it proposes to take following the High Court judgment.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.