Tata Steel: Pension cut plan would be 'unique' to company

Community union members from every Tata Steel UK site met in London today to consider issues relating to the ongoing sales process.

The union agreed there were serious concerns about the integrity of Tata Steel’s sales process.

The statement has been sent to Tata Steel management.

Tata responded saying that negotiations continue with interested parties.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed the Government is set to launch an "open consultation" on changes to pensions law as part of efforts to save Tata Steel despite being "very wary of setting a precedent".

The consultation, which will run until June 23, sets out a number of different options for the British Steel Pension Scheme and its 130,000 members.

The scheme includes 14,000 people currently employed by Tata or another employer, 32,000 are deferred (no longer employed by Tata but below the scheme's normal pension age) and 84,000 pensioners.

The Government has been warned against the impact of setting a precedent by seeking to change pension law.

"No decision (on Tata's future) has been made," Mr Javid told MPs. "We are very wary of setting a precedent ... this is very much about this scheme and this scheme only in these very unique circumstances."

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle warned against cutting the fund's long-term liabilities by benchmarking it to the consumer price index (CPI) rather than the higher retail price index (RPI), saying: "This change is currently illegal."

• Joel Hills: Why is the government exploring an exception for Tata but not BHS?

Pension law changes are to be considered in a bid to save Tata's UK steel operations.

The government is said to be looking at ways of helping Tata to ease its pension liabilities in an effort to persuade the Indian company to abandon its planned sell-off.

First Minister Carwyn Jones, who has been with Mr Javid in Mumbai for talks with Tata, said that he was urging the Government to make legal changes.

The firm's £15 billion pension liabilities have always been seen as one of the biggest obstacles in finding a buyer for its UK assets, including the Port Talbot plant.

The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has said a "very positive and constructive discussion" has been held in Mumbai over the future of Tata Steel's UK business.

The Indian conglomerate's board is drawing up a shortlist of potential buyers, although "nobody has yet emerged as a front runner or front runners", added Mr Jones, who has been joined in India by the Business Secretary Sajid Javid.

His comments come as hundreds of steelworkers marched through Westminster to call on the government to save the industry.

The leader of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, has called on the government to save the steel industry, as hundreds of steelworkers marched through Westminster to highlight the crisis.

The board of Tata Steel is meeting in Mumbai but has yet to draw up a shortlist of potential buyers for its UK assets.

Thousands of jobs are at risk, with the Port Talbot plant in south Wales facing closure if a buyer cannot be found.

Tata Steel is reviewing all options for its UK business including sale, ITV News understands.

The company said there is "no shortlist" yet for potential buyers.

ITV News' Wales Correspondent Rupert Evelyn has the latest: