Maxwell Pensions Unit Maxwell Pensioners Trust

Jane Newell is the independent Chair of the Royal Mail Pension Plan. Other pensions chairmanships have included: 2005-2007 DSGi pension scheme; 1998-2005 United Utilities Pension Scheme, and the UU Group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme. From 1994-2004 Jane was a Trustee of the GlaxoSmithKline Pension Plan. Her involvement with pensions arose from her appointment in 1992 as a founder Trustee, and subsequently Chairman, of the Maxwell Pensioners Trust for which she was awarded the OBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours list. She has also held the position of Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors of London South Bank University for 8 years and was previously Chair of Council of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She is currently a Trustee of Age UK, a Justice of the Peace and a Vice-President of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and from 1996-2005 was a non-executive director of United Utilities plc. She has also been an external Assessor for the Assessment and Consultancy Unit of the Home Office as well as an international civil servant, a university linguistics tutor and a health and university administrator.

Following the death in November 1991 of Robert Maxwell, the publishing tycoon, some £450 million in assets were found to be missing from the pension funds of the companies over which he had control. His business empire was also in a state of collapse. During the first half of 1992 it became apparent that the rights of more than 32,000 pension scheme members were at risk: some Maxwell pension schemes were in the position of having to cut severely or suspend their payments to pensioners.

In June 1992 the Maxwell Pensions Unit was established as one of a series of Government measures to help Maxwell schemes. A discretionary trust fund - the Maxwell Pensioners Trust (MPT) chaired by Sir John Cuckney - was also set up, and Sir John was appointed as the Secretary of State for Social Security's adviser on Maxwell matters. Other trustees of the MPT were Jane Newell, Sir Ewen Broadbent, David Marlow and John Ballard. Sir Thomas Hetherington joined in March 1995.

When the Unit was set up, the Government provided it with £2.5 million in emergency funding to keep pensions in payment in the short term. This, together with the substantial assistance to the scheme provided by the MPT from funds which it raised from voluntary financial contribution from the City and others, ensured all pensions were kept in payment. The key step in the resolution of the Maxwell problem was the major settlement of asset recovery claims in March 1995 which was worth some £276 million to the pension schemes. This was brokered by Sir John Cuckney, assisted by the Unit. The major settlement was, however, only achievable against a background of other steps that had been taken over the previous two and a half years which had involved Sir John, the Unit, Ministers, the MPT and many others.

On 31st March 1995 the Maxwell Pensions Unit was formally wound up. More than £420 million had been recovered or was in the process of being returned to Maxwell schemes.

Biography taken from http://www.pensionsarchive.org.uk/41/ , accessed 31 Dec 2010.