A Scottish scheme has received a contract worth £56,000 to help local workers better understand pensions and of the need to plan for their retiral years.

The Scottish Transport Credit Union has run a pension education and information scheme across Scotland since January 2006, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The scheme delivers pensions information through trained local officers, information packs, interactive material and a help line. The new contract will allow the Union to continue this work.

General Manager John Mackin from the scheme said: "We are delighted to be awarded this contract extension, as it has been very successful in creating a higher degree of awareness about retiral options among thousands of transport staff around the country.

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"All major transport companies have welcomed the information being available to their staff including First Group, Arriva Group, Stagecoach Group and the Scottish Ambulance Service, with one of the companies reporting a 50% increase in pension take-up for last year!

"Our strategy of taking the subject to the workplace through our publications, and then followed-up by our staff talking to thousands of employees, has been popular, and this will continue."

This scheme is one of 26 across the UK to share this year's £1.47m Pension Education Fund sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pension Reform Minister Mike O'Brien said: "The Pension Education Fund is about trying to reach people who perhaps have never thought about pensions or what they might do when they retire.

"The scheme is a useful way to give people the information they need to make decisions about their future. The workplace is an ideal place to do this; often someone's first contact with pensions is through their employer's scheme and research shows that workers trust their employers to provide accurate information about their pensions."

(GK)