A freelance journalist has won more than £8,000 in holiday pay after a tribunal ruling against the former publisher of the Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News and Scotland on Sunday.

David Walsh worked for Scotsman Publications Ltd (now in administration) for several years, starting with a couple of days a month but later taking on eight-hour shifts five days a week.

He eventually became an assistant news editor at the publisher, according to a copy of the tribunal judgment seen by Press Gazette.

Walsh asked for holiday pay several times while at Scotsman Publications but did not receive any as he was deemed self-employed.

The employment tribunal ruled that Walsh met the legal definition of a worker, rather than an independent contractor. This meant he was entitled to full holiday pay and received £8,360 in compensation.

Scotsman Publications was part of Johnston Press, which went into administration last year. The titles are now owned by JPI Media.

In his ruling, the employment judge David Hoey said: “The claimant [Walsh] provided service personally to the respondent and he had limited rights to refuse to do so. In fact he rarely did so.

“The person for whom the claimant was doing the work was not a client or customer of a business being run by the claimant.

“This could be the case if the work was carried out sporadically but the claimant began from 2015 to work lengthy hours each week. He was being treated as part of the respondent’s staffing.”

The judge added that Walsh was an “integral part” of the team he worked with and that his relationship with Scotsman Publications was “not an arm’s length relationship”.

National Union of Journalists’ Scotland organiser John Toner said: “We were always confident that Mr Walsh was a ‘worker’, and that the agreement did not reflect the reality of the working relationship.

“The agreement is still in use by JPI Media, and this judgment is likely to have implications for freelances who work for that company on a casual basis.

“The NUJ would welcome the opportunity to negotiate a more appropriate agreement.”

JPI Media said it had no comment on the case.

As Scotsman Publications Ltd is now in administration, the NUJ said this meant Walsh would have to recover the compensation from the national insurance fund.

The Johnston Press administrator Alix Partners was not present at the tribunal hearing, according to the tribunal judgement.

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The UK pensions watchdog has dropped its investigation into the buyout of news publisher Johnston Press by bondholders.

The Pensions Regulator opened an investigation following the takeover of the i, Scotsman and Yorkshire Post publisher by newly formed company JPI Media in a “pre-pack” administration deal in November last year.

The probe centred around whether there had been a viable alternative to administration and whether it had been “artificially engineered” to avoid an £885,000 pension contribution due the same month.

The regulator said it had “found no evidence to suggest that insolvency was avoidable” or that the administration was “planned to circumvent payment” of the contribution into the Johnston Press Pension Plan.

As such, it said it would not make use of “anti-avoidance powers” that can force companies to pay into pension schemes.

The regulator also said there were no “acts pre-dating the administration worthy of further investigation” and that administrators had confirmed there were no previous transactions warranting further investigation.

In its report, TPR said the Johnston Press pension plan had more than 4,700 members and an estimated buyout deficit of £305m as of 30 June last year.

It said that JP had approached it and the Pension Protection Fund to explore the possibility of freeing itself from financial obligations to its pension scheme to avoid insolvency, but did not meet conditions required to do so.

The regulator said the pre-pack deal had been agreed as a contingency plan in the event there was no other solution for refinancing its debts and no viable offers to buy it. The directors took this action on 16 November.

Administrators sold the businesses and assets to JPI Media for £181m the following day, advising that this was “at the top end” of an independent valuation of its business and assets.

As a result of the sale, future pension payments for 250 employees on the defined pension scheme were set to be affected because the scheme did not transfer over to JPI Media.

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JPI Media has put its property portfolio under review in a move that could lead to newsrooms being relocated, merged or see office space cut back, according to an email to staff seen by Press Gazette.

The email, from chief executive David King, said the i and Yorkshire Post publisher would be reviewing its “space requirements” in Belfast, Peterborough, Sunderland and Harrogate and Cavendish Square in London.

King said: “We may seek to move into new offices, reduce the space we occupy or consolidate with other offices as appropriate.”

He said the newly-formed publisher, which snapped up more than 200 titles from Johnston Press in a pre-pack administration deal last November, intended to keep its offices in Preston, Sheffield, Stamford, Edinburgh, Leeds and Derry Street in London where the i paper is based.

Staff were further told that printing press sites in Carn, Hilsea and Dinnington are set to remain while space requirements in Leeds and Edinburgh would be reviewed.

King said: “As you may be aware, all our offices are currently rented from commercial landlords under what is called a license to occupy.

“The Johnston Press lease on all leased offices did not transition over when the business was bought by JPI Media, which offers us an opportunity to review the agreements in a number of locations.

“As a result of this review, certain offices could be relocated or consolidated with others to ensure with optimise our property footprint.

“The interests of our employees, as well as the future of our titles, will be a key consideration in this process. While many staff will not be affected, we will ensure that we engage with those that are.”

He added: “We will continue to occupy all other sites whilst we assess our needs and will engage with staff locally and establish the best way of operating for them and our operations and titles.”

The email was received by staff a day after the publisher launched its #Buyapaper campaign to raise awareness of the local news industry.

A JPI Media editor, who asked not to be named, said: “Come rain or shine, good times or bad times, Johnston Press would take any opportunity to cut costs.

“When the ship sunk and the company was relaunched as JPI Media we were told there would be no change in strategy, and so it has proved.

“We’ve seen so many offices close over the last few years, with many ‘local’ papers run from offices not even in the same county as they are supposed to cover. It only makes working as a journalist harder and harder. ”

JPI Media did not wish to comment further on its plans. 

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Publisher JPI Media has upped the cover price of the i newspaper and some of its regional daily titles in response to falling advertising revenues and the rising cost of newsprint.

The i’s weekday cover price went up from 60p to 65p from the start of this year, while regional dailies the Sunderland Echo, Lancashire Post, Blackpool Gazette, Hartlepool Mail and Shields Gazette also put prices up.

The Blackpool Gazette hiked its price by 5p, going from 85p to 90p while the Lancashire post went from 80p to 83p.

The Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette both added an extra 2p to their cover prices, now costing 80p and 85p respectively, as the Hartlepool Mail went from 70p to 73p.

The titles were snapped up by JPI Media from Johnston Press in November last year as part of a pre-pack administration deal.

In a statement, JPI Media publishing director Richard Thomson said: “Increasing the price of our newspapers is never an easy decision.

“Newsprint prices continued to increase throughout 2018 by circa 12 per cent and are expected to rise further this year. Due to this the costs of doing business have grown.

“We are committed to reinvesting in the quality of our journalism and ensure we deliver the trustworthy reporting our readers expect. As a result, we are introducing price increases to a number of our titles.”

JPI Media, which owns more than 200 titles formerly belonging to Johnston Press, declined to confirm every title with an increased cover price.

In an editor’s letter published in the Hartlepool Mail, North East editorial director Joy Yates said: “On Monday, the price of your Hartlepool Mail will increase by 3p to 73p – the first rise since 2015.

“The reason for this increase is not merely that our own costs are rising – true though that is.

“The way newspapers are funded is profoundly different from most other products you can purchase in the supermarket or newsagents.

“Historically, the lion’s share of the costs of our journalism and the production of our titles has been met by advertising.

“Without that advertising, if the reader was to pay the full price then each issue of the Hartlepool Mail would cost several pounds.

“But that subsidy we receive from advertising is decreasing in a digital age.

“So if we are to continue to deliver the exceptional, trusted local journalism which I know you value, we have to charge a little more for the paper to help offset the lower advertising revenue.”

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The head of parliament’s pensions committee has criticised Johnston Press for “dumping” its pension liabilities by calling in the administrators just days before it was due to make an £800,000 contribution to the scheme.

Work and Pensions Select Committee chairman Frank Field MP also said there were “serious doubts” about the pre-pack administration deal that saw the publisher bought up by the holders of its £220m debts.

As part of the deal, JP bondholders, acting through newly-formed company JPI Media, agreed to wipe out 60 per cent of the £220m owed to them and extend repayment of the remaining £85m to 2023.

They also said they would inject £35m of new money into the group as part of the pre-pack deal. Press Gazette has since seen an FAQ sent to staff revealing that this sum is a working capital loan.

The loan – effectively a funding pot that can be accessed if needed – has an attached interest rate and must be repaid within two years, according to a JPI Media spokesperson.

The Pension Protection Fund is set to put in a claim of up to £305m over JP’s pension scheme. Its defined benefit scheme was not passed over to the new firm.

In letters responding to questions from Field, the PPF and The Pensions Regulator said JP was due to pay out around £800,000 in pension contributions shortly after administrators were appointed on 17 November.

The PPF said the payment was due on 18 November. TPR claimed it was due on 19 November.

In a statement, Field said: “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that a company that dumps its pensions liabilities just days before it has to put £800,000 into the pension fund might be up to no good.

“It’s clear that the PPF, which is left to foot the bill, has serious doubts about this pre-pack deal. The Pensions Regulator has promised to be quicker and tougher—now would be a good time to start.”

In her letter to Field, PPF chief executive Oliver Morley claimed there was “no indication that the business was cash-flow insolvent and unable to meet its current debts as they fell due”.

She said it had “more than adequate cash reserves” to cover the sizeable pension contribution and “bondholder interest due in December”.

But a well-placed source slapped down the claim, saying that the business was balance sheet insolvent, as noted by courts across the UK, and was thus unable to pay its massive debts.

The PPF added that it had not seen evidence of a “burning platform” supporting the need for a swift pre-pack deal and still did not understand why there was an “apparent rush to complete the pre-pack administration”.

In a statement, a JP spokesperson said: “The decision to place Johnston Press into administration was taken by three independent judges, in three separate legal jurisdictions of the UK, who each approved the directors’ application for administration.

“The directors took legal and financial advice and concluded that there was no alternative courses of action available to the company.

“Although the business was trading profitably, on an operating basis, the conclusion of the Formal Sales Process demonstrated that there was no longer a reasonable prospect of the company finding a way to repay the £220m bond that fell due for repayment on June 1 2019 or otherwise avoiding an insolvency process.

“This meant that the directors came under a legal obligation to petition the relevant courts on an urgent basis. The timing was wholly unconnected to the £800,000 monthly pension contribution the company was due to make.

“The Group has made payments of £55m in respect of the scheme since early 2014. The PPF and the Pensions Regulator were informed of the proposed timing for these applications in advance.”

Regarding the pre-pack administration deal and other offers made for JP during its sale process, the PPF said that, having seen the JP creditors’ report, it “remained concerned” that marketing of the business “may not have adequately flushed out interest in single or batches of titles that may have achieved a better result” for the pension scheme and other creditors.

The creditors report (SIP16) published last month revealed that a £150m bid was made for the entirety of Johnston Press by an unnamed bidder that “assumed no pension plan deficit” and £10m of cash available on completion.

Five other offers were made for parts of the regional publisher, including a £96m to £120m deal for the group that excluded the i newspaper.

Two further offers were received for the i newspaper, with one bid coming in for £25m and the other £35m.

The final offers were one of £2.5m for the Sheffield Star, Sheffield Telegraph and Doncaster Free Press and another bid of £30,000 for the Observer series and West Sussex Gazette.

In a statement on bids submitted during the sales process, a JP spokesperson said a total of 63 parties were contacted during the formal sales process that led to six offers being tabled, including one for the business as a whole.

“Yet no viable solvent offers were received, with no parties willing to acquire the pension obligations,” they added.

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The National Union of Journalists is setting up chapels for BBC-funded local democracy reporters working at each of the major regional publishers.

The NUJ said becoming organised would help LDRs address issues such as “host” local newspapers supplying them with mobile phones and paying their expenses for taxis home after late-running council meetings.

Some also reported feeling “isolated” as they frequently find their newspaper is “unfamiliar with how the scheme should work” while the BBC is “reluctant to get involved”, the NUJ has said.

The union has already started a chapel for Reach-employed LDRs, is in the process of setting one up for JPI Media and is “looking at how best to set one up” for Newsquest employees.

The NUJ hosted a summit of LDRs which coincided with the publication of the first annual reports of the scheme last week from the BBC and News Media Association, which are in partnership for the scheme.

The organisations said the scheme has “already delivered significant levels of public interest journalism” and is “strengthening local journalism and the accountability of local public bodies, to the benefit of our democracy”.

The first LDR was appointed in Kent in January.

The reports said more than 30,000 stories have been published by 126 BBC-funded local democracy reporters this year, while the NMA said it wanted to increase the agreed target number from 145 to 200 as a matter of priority.

The NUJ said its meeting with reporters allowed them to share their experiences and discuss how they can organise as union members to take up a range of issues across the scheme in a collective way.

Other issues include stories not being published quickly enough, reporters being asked to do work beyond the remit of the role and not being correctly bylined as well as “certain publishers preferring lighter stories and trivia”.

The NUJ said it has been concerned that newspaper groups were taking on LDRs at the same as they were making redundancies. In one case a political reporter’s role was cut as an LDR was taken on.

The union said it has raised the issue with the BBC.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet (pictured) added that many of the LDRs who attended the summit had not received a pay rise as part of their contract, as stipulated by the BBC.

There are also concerns some LDRs are not being paid the agreed minimum salary by their host newspaper.

But, there was a positive message in line with the BBC and NMA too. The NUJ said: “The overall message from the LDRs at the summit was that they were producing important stories and were appreciated by readers.

“One LDR said despite the frustrations thrown up by the way the scheme was being run, she knew that she was fulfilling an important role in holding local authorities to account.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re pleased the reporters questioned here recognise they are doing important work and enjoy their jobs.

“They are not employed or managed by us, but we take steps to ensure the service is running correctly and we have regular meetings with providers.

“The first annual review of the partnerships found the reporters, their employers, other news partners and audiences were positive about the service.

“This is a large, complex and unique project, which we think is working well.”

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A £150m bid was made for Johnston Press before it was snapped up by JPI Media in a pre-pack administration deal, a report has revealed.

The creditors report published by JP administrators Alix Partners today said the offer of between £140m and £150m by a unnamed bidder “assumed no pension plan deficit” and £10m of cash available on completion of sale.

Five other offers were made for parts of the regional publisher, including a £96m to £120m deal for the group that excluded the i newspaper.

Two separate offers were received for the i newspaper, one for £25m and the other £35m.

The final offers were one of £2.5m for the Sheffield Star, Sheffield Telegraph and Doncaster Free Press and another bid of £30,000 for the Observer series and West Sussex Gazette.

The report also revealed that the value of the Scotsman group titles has collapsed to £4.3m – a huge fall from the £160m JP spent to snap up the titles in 2005.

JP directors consulted with Alix Partners and financial advisers Rothschild and Co over the deals but “considered that none of the offers received, or any combination of them, would result in aggregate net proceeds sufficient to enable the group to repay the bonds in full”.

In the report, Alix Partners went on to flag a “significant shortfall” of cash for creditors after the regional publisher was sold to new owner JPI Media in a pre-pack deal.

It said there are funds available for distribution to secured bondholders, including those who set up JPI Media, and prescribed unsecured creditors “in accordance with priorities set by the Insolvency Act”.

A spokesperson for Alix Partners said: “We are confident that, in the circumstances, the sale achieved the best available outcome for creditors.

“We are also satisfied that the marketing process for the sale of the business and assets was appropriate and well publicised.

“The sale consideration, which resulted from the best offer received, was consistent with independent valuations carried out by Mazars and far in excess of other offers received.

“Proceeding with a swift ‘pre-pack’ had the additional advantages of mitigating disruption to the business and importantly preserving jobs across the organisation.”

JP bondholders who set up newly formed JPI Media last week – including Goldentree Asset Management, Fidelity, Caravel Asset Management and Benefit Street Partners – agreed to wipe out 60 per cent of the £220m owed to them, extend the final repayment date to 2023 and inject £35m of new money into the group as part of the pre-pack deal.

The move is said to have secured jobs and JP’s more than 200 titles.

But the defined benefit pension scheme, which has a deficit of approximately £47.2m, was not transferred to the new company – a move that could affect pension payments to 250 employees.

Earlier this week, the Pension Protection Fund, a statutory fund that acts to save the pension schemes of collapsed companies, confirmed it was putting in a £305m claim with JP’s administrators.

The PPF raised “concerns” about the pre-pack deal. In a statement released on Monday, a PPF spokesperson said: “We want to reassure members of the Johnston Press pension plan that their benefits are protected by the PPF at what must be an unsettling time for them.”

The chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Frank Field also raised questions about JP’s pensions.

In a letter to Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb, he said he found it “difficult to understand” how JPI Media could snap up the publisher “without taking any responsibility for its pension scheme.”

Christen Ager-Hanssen, formerly the largest Johnston Press shareholder, has lashed out at the deal that chopped the value of his 25 per cent holding.

He has set up an action group website for Johnston Press pensioners and shareholders with the aim of collecting evidence for planned legal action.

Responding to the pension concerns, a JP spokesperson said: “Johnston Press has been in regular dialogue with its Pension Scheme Trustees, The Pension Regulator, and the PPF since 2014.

“Throughout our extensive and detailed discussions during the strategic review we have kept them informed every step of the way.

“Up until the administration the company met all its obligations to the scheme, with more than £55m paid in relation to the plan from the beginning of 2014.”

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I was at the press conference in 2005 when Andrew Neil announced on behalf of the Barclay brothers that they had sold The Scotsman and its sister titles to Johnston Press for £160m. Trebles all round, as Private Eye would say.

Rather naively I asked whether he was concerned about what the deal would mean for the hundreds of journalists employed by The Scotsman group. I can’t remember his exact reply, but I recall he was incredulous that I was even asking how a business transaction would affect the staff.

Twelve years on we can see that this purchase, and the ones which preceded it, have been disastrous for Johnston Press and contributed to a scenario where the UK’s fourth largest regional newspaper group went into administration last week.

This is a story of how decisions made in the JP boardroom up to 2005, by executives who made their money and then headed for the golf course, have dogged the group and its 200 newspaper titles.

Little did we know in 2005 that we were standing at the high-point of print newspaper profitability in the UK.

That year, JP reported £180m profit on turnover of £520m – a profit margin verging on the greedy at 35 per cent.

Back then it employed 2,122 journalists out of a total workforce of 8,000 and had amassed debts of £643m which, given the huge profits, looked sustainable.

JP’s official motto was “Life is Local” but unofficially it was “Big is Best” as it swallowed up rivals in pursuit of ever greater synergies, share price growth and bigger bonuses for the boardroom fat cats.

But in 2008 the wheels came off the entire UK regional newspaper industry as the economic crash combined with drastic technological change to wipe out the commercial pillars of print advertising: homes, jobs and cars.

Fast forward to the 2017 Johnston Press annual report and we can see that the company had survived, but at terrible cost to its staff who now numbered just a quarter of the 2005 figure.

It made an adjusted operating profit of £33m on turnover of just over £200m last year. A fraction of what it made at the heights, but not too shabby either.

Most businesses would view that as a tidy margin. For a regional newspaper business operating in 2017 it was borderline miraculous.

But the creditors had run out of patience and so the titles were put up for sale in the hope they would get the £220m still outstanding back.

When no buyer, or buyers, with deep enough pockets were found the bondholders (or creditors) took ownership of the titles themselves through a managed administration. The shareholders have been wiped out and members of the pension scheme are also going to lose some of their retirement funds as a result.

At least the titles have survived and the journalists have continuity of employment, but the bondholders will still want to get their money back as quickly as possible.

I worked at Johnston Press during the boom years in the late 1990s when it was making a 40 per cent profit margin. My title, the Battle Observer, had one very junior journalist, paid little more than the cleaners, and half a sub-editor.

Today there are few sub-editors left anywhere in Johnston Press and some titles have no dedicated journalists at all, relying instead on pooled content overseen by distant editors who head-up multiple titles.

Johnston Press still produces many fine newspapers staffed by Stakhanovite journalists who do a great job for their communities under tough conditions. But it seems to me dreadfully unfair that they, and the communities they serve, have less well resourced newsrooms because of the crazy excesses of shareholder capitalism.

Every local newspaper group – big or small, private or public – has declined over the last decade.

In most cases they have grown their audience online but struggled to monetise it sufficiently as advertisers have chosen to mainly spend their cash with two digital giants based in Silicon Valley – Google and Facebook.

But Johnston Press has had things particularly hard as it tried to return profits to shareholders and service an unsustainable debt.

It seems to me that, boom or bust, we place far too little value on local journalism – a service which I would say is a vital public utility. It is too important to be left in the hands of corporate cowboys riding roughshod over the needs of local communities in the search for short-term profitability.

The new owners of Johnston Press now at least have some breathing space.

They have already agreed to wipe out £135m of the outstanding debt, which leaves £85m remaining, to be paid back by December 2023.

My hope is that they take their time to make their money back and shore up the core businesses, taking a longer term view and investing in their core product and USP – quality journalism.

Because while the board counts its profits, from Worthing to Whitby there are communities which count on these papers to be their eyes and ears and the glue which holds them together.

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A UK pensions body will put in a £305m claim with Johnston Press’ administrators after raising concerns about the pre-pack deal offered to new owners JPI Media after the regional publisher’s collapse.

The Pension Protection Fund, a statutory fund that acts to save the pension schemes of collapsed companies, confirmed that it was required to make the claim against JP assets under the Pensions Act.

Under the terms of the takeover deal from JP debtholders, who set up JPI Media, the defined benefit pension scheme will not be transferred – a move that could affect pension payments to 250 employees.

Defined contribution pensions will still be offered, however. It has been reported that the overall deficit of JP’s defined benefit pension scheme stands at more than £40m.

Earlier this week, a PPF spokesperson said: “We want to reassure members of the Johnston Press pension plan that their benefits are protected by the PPF at what must be an unsettling time for them.”

The chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee has also raised questions about JP’s pensions following its sale last Friday.

Frank Field MP sent a letter to Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb in which he asked for details of its discussions with the publisher, adding that he found it “difficult to understand” how JPI Media could buy JP “without taking any responsibility for its pension scheme”.

The independent MP has also written to PPF chief executive Oliver Morley to set out the fund’s concerns about the administration deal.

He also asked Morley whether he believed “adequate protections are in place to prevent schemes being dumped on the PPF, at cost to pensioners and levypayers”.

In a statement on pension concerns, a JP spokesperson said: “Johnston Press has been in regular dialogue with its Pension Scheme Trustees, The Pension Regulator, and the PPF since 2014.

“Throughout our extensive and detailed discussions during the strategic review we have kept them informed every step of the way.

“Up until the administration the company met all its obligations to the scheme, with more than £55m paid in relation to the plan from the beginning of 2014.”

A spokesperson for JP administrator Alix Partners said: “Alix Partners, in conjunction with the board and other advisors, worked closely with all relevant regulatory bodies and stakeholders, including those relating to pensions, prior to the administration and will continue to do so as required.”

JP bondholders agreed to wipe out 60 per cent of the £220m owed to them, extend the final repayment date to 2023 and inject £35m of new money into the group. 

The move is said to have secured jobs and the future of JP’s more than 200 titles, which include the i paper, Scotsman and Yorkshire Post.

Bondholders, who are the investors owed money by JP, include Goldentree Asset Management, Fidelity, Caravel Asset Management and Benefit Street Partners, according to the Financial Times.

The majority bondholder, New York-based hedge fund Goldentree Asset Management, has $27bn of assets under its management.

Its primary investments are in high yield bonds, leveraged loans and distressed debt, according to the company’s Linkedin profile.

Quarterly holdings reports submitted by Goldentree to the US Securities and Exchange Commission show the fund has previously held equity in US broadcaster CBS.

Press Gazette contacted Goldentree for information on any other investments it had made in the news industry, but was told it does not speak to the media.

US-based Fidelity has held equity in several media firms, including CBS, the New York Times, the parent company of US radio broadcast SiriusXM and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. 

The investment giant, which is based in Boston, has more than two trillion dollars worth of assets under management, with shares in Amazon, Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet.

Caravel Asset Managment is a Hong Kong-based investment management firm. Benefit Street Partners, based in New York, is also an investment manager.

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The UK Pension Protection Fund has said it has “concerns” about the pre-pack administration deal offered to newly-formed news publisher JPI Media after the collapse of Johnston Press on Friday night.

JP debtholders who bought the firm through the new company agreed to wipe out 60 per cent of the £220m owed to them, extend the repayment date to 2023 and inject £35m of new money into the group.

The move is said to have secured jobs and the future of JP’s more than 200 titles, which include the i paper, Scotsman and Yorkshire Post.

But, under the terms of the takeover deal, JP’s defined benefit pension scheme will not pass over to JPI Media. As such, it is expected that pension payments to 250 employees will be affected.

The defined benefit pension scheme has a deficit of more than £40m, according to the Financial Times.

In a statement about the sale, which was announced on the weekend after the board put JP into administration, a PPF spokesperson said: “We have concerns surrounding the details of this pre-pack administration.

“We will continue to work working closely with the Pensions Regulator and the company administrator to ensure the best outcome for the PPF and our levy payers.

“We want to reassure members of the Johnston Press pension plan that their benefits are protected by the PPF at what must be an unsettling time for them.”

The chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee has also raised questions about JP’s pensions following the company’s sale.

In his letter, Frank Field MP asked Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb for details of its discussions with the publisher.

He said he found it “difficult to understand” how JPI Media – a company formed by Johnston Press bondholders – could snap up the publisher “without taking any responsibility for its pension scheme.”

The independent MP also asked for an explanation of why no solution was found that did not involve JP’s defined benefit pension scheme entering Pension Protection Fund assessment.

He added: “Might I ask whether, in the light of this and similar cases, you consider that adequate protections are in place to prevent schemes being dumped on the PPF, at cost to pensioners and levy-payers?”

JPI Media has said that employees will still be offered defined-contribution pensions.

A spokesperson for the Pensions Regulator said: “Together with the Pension Protection Fund, we will be working with the administrators to understand the circumstances surrounding the sale and its implications for the Johnston Press pension plan and its members at this challenging time.

“Our role at this stage is to assess the terms of the sale of the business to ensure the pension scheme has been treated appropriately.

“We continue to work closely with the scheme trustee and the PPF.”

Johnston Press has been contacted for a response to both the PPF’s and Frank Field’s statements.

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