THE pensions watchdog is facing questions from MPs after the sale of News Letter owner Johnston Press put its pensioners at risk of cuts.
Frank Field, the chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, has written to The Pensions Regulator to ask if protections are in place to prevent pension schemes being "dumped" on the taxpayer-backed Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
It comes after the publisher, which has a stable of titles including the i, Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and the Craigavon-headquartered Morton Group, was bought out of administration by creditors through newly formed company JPIMedia over the weekend.
Jobs across the company's titles have been safeguarded by the deal, but an assessment period has been triggered for the employees on the defined-benefit pension scheme, meaning it could be bailed out by the PPF.
If the scheme is rescued by the official lifeboat, former employees could face cuts to their retirement incomes.
In a letter to Lesley Titcomb, outgoing chief executive of TPR, Mr Field asked for an explanation of "why it was not possible to find a solution that would have avoided the pension scheme entering the PPF".
"It is difficult to understand why it is possible for JPIMedia to acquire the business, no doubt in the expectation of generating a profit from it, but without taking any responsibility for its pension scheme."
