The select committee has written to the administrators of collapsed wholesaler Palmer & Harvey, with a series of questions about the company’s finances and operations, and the position that leaves the pension fund in.
The committee wrote to Palmer & Harvey in December 2017 regarding the status of its pension scheme, after the firm collapsed in November.
Its latest letter, dated January 10, is addressed to PwC, the administrator. Chair of the committee Frank Field highlights that the Palmer & Harvey defined benefit scheme deficit reported in the latest annual accounts was £5.3m as at April 2016, and the scheme’s independent trustee has confirmed that the technical provisions deficit was £49m as at March 2016.
The committee has posed a number of questions, asking PwC the estimate of the debt owed to the scheme by the company, where the scheme’s claim ranks in the order of creditor preference, and how much money the scheme can expect to recover.
The letter also asks how much outstanding debt the company owes in respect of the debt facilities established to finance a 2008 management buyout.
PwC has not yet commented.
Field said: “I am getting very tired of this same old story – I can’t even imagine how the unfortunate workers and pensioners feel... The administrators must do everything in their power to get as much as possible for the people who deserve it most.”
