Halcrow Pensioners Association

Newsletter No. 14

 HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION 

 Newsletter No 14 : March 2016

You have been sent this newsletter because you may be a member of the Halcrow Pension Scheme. If you are not a member then please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email to remove your name from the mailing list or email the webmaster at halcrowpensioners.org.uk to remove your name.

Notice of 2016 Annual General Meeting

It doesn't seem long since the last AGM but, in accordance with HPA's constitution, an Annual General Meeting should take place in April. It is proposed to adopt the format used previously of a virtual meeting in a sub-forum of the HPA forum to which only paid-up members of HPA will be given access. The meeting will be the member's annual opportunity to contribute to the direction and operation of HPA. The 2016 AGM will be a virtual AGM held in the HPA forum between 17th and 24th April. The proposed schedule for the meeting is:

Stage Date
Commencement of AGM 17 April
Discussion 18 to 21 April
 Voting  22 to 24 April

The agenda is here and the minutes of the 2015 AGM are here. Nominations or proposed items to be discussed at the AGM can be posted in the 2016 AGM forum to provide opportunity for others to view and, if appropriate, comment on them. Alternatively, please email them to secretary at halcrowpensioners dot org dot uk. An updated agenda will be issued before the meeting. The AGM is the opportunity for the members to provide their views on the direction of HPA.

The HPA committee is always keen to welcome new members. If you would like to help or would like to improve your understanding of pensions-related issues then please contact the HPA secretary who can also provide additional information about what the committee does.

2016 Subscriptions

For those who haven't already paid, the HPA treasurer looks forward to receiving your 2016 subscription. It remains at £10. Payment by bank transfer is preferred because there are no transaction charges although you can also pay by credit card through our PayPal portal. Details of the payment methods are here. Access to the 2016 AGM will be restricted to those who have paid their 2016 subscription. If you have paid your subscription then please check that you have access to the forum. If you haven't registered then please do so or if you have forgotten your forum registration details then please email the webmaster.

Other Pension Scheme News

HPS isn't the only pension scheme with funding problems. One which has been making the news recently is the BHS staff pension scheme. If the FT website cooperates then you can read several recent articles about this scheme. Alternatively, there is a report here. The BA pension scheme is also going to provide some income for the lawyers. Some interesting history is also revealed by this report of a parliamentary debate.

Other Reading Matter

HPA members occasionally put pen to paper and their works deserve a mention. First in line is our chairman's hypothesis about building the pyramids. A very recent publication is Alan Cooke's Our Man in Phuket. The introdutory blurb fails to mention the 34 years of Halcrow employment. Also worthy of a mention is this book by a member's daughter which might well be of greater interest to wives because it reflects on the challenges of a spouse on a foreign posting.

Please Spread the Word About HPA

Please make all friends and acquaintances who might have an interest in the Halcrow Pension Scheme aware of the current situation and of HPA's existence. Use the link at the bottom of the email newsletter to send a copy to anyone else. It is better that they get informed more than once rather than not at all. If changes to the HPS are proposed then there may be a limited time available to react.

Membership Database

One of the motions passed at the AGM was to collect location data for members in order to identify which MPs might be best targeted in the event that parliamentary support is needed (the Pensions Regulator may be more responsive to MPs than it is to pension scheme members). A field has been added in the newsletter subscriber database. All newsletter recipients are therefore requested to check and update their data using the link to their personal preferences at the bottom of the email newsletter. If you have any difficulties please contact the webmaster.

Previous Newsletters

If you haven't been with HPA from the start then you might be interested to browse through the previous newsletters. There is a full list here.