Newsletter No. 48

 HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION 

 Newsletter No. 48 : December 2021

This is a newsletter of the Halcrow Pensioners Association (HPA). More details of HPA's objectives, organisation and its activities are here. You have been sent this newsletter because you are on the HPA's mailing list. Membership of HPA is open to all to all former Halcrow employees, sub-contractors, spouses and dependants who consider themselves to be part of the Halcrow "family". If you do not wish to receive the HPA newsletters then please email the webmaster to remove your name from the mailing list. If you know anyone who may wish to receive the newsletters then please forward them this newsletter using the link at the bottom and encourage them to sign up for their own newsletters here.

The HPA committee wishes all readers the most enjoyable Christmas achievable in the current circumstances and we hope that 2022 will bring a return to normal life.

Suspension of HPA Subscriptions
The HPA committee decided at a meeting on 8th December 2021 that, in view of the relatively healthy state of funding of Halcrow Pension Scheme No. 2 (HPS2) as explained in Newsletter No. 46 and Newsletter No. 47, there was no obvious need to further increase HPA's financial reserves (some £8.500) for the foreseeable future. If ever there is a need to take future legal action, then we will need to seek out enhanced HPA member contributions. It is noted that this decision runs contrary to the vote at the AGM in favour of continuing subscriptions but that vote pre-dated the information released by the HPS2 trustee during the second half of this year. Anyone with a standing order to pay their annual subscription is requested to please cancel it.

The Future Direction and Strategy of HPA
Alongside the need to keep pressure on the Trustee as necessary and continue to monitor and report on HPS2 and how it compares in the defined benefit pension marketplace including PPF, the committee anticipates some change in strategy for HPA, possibly with an increased emphasis on social networking for the wider Halcrow family many of whom have fond memories of working together. How this evolves depends on the membership. A motion was passed at the 2021 AGM in favour of HPA developing a social networking component. However, to date no suggestions have been received from members. Please provide your suggestions, either in the HPA forum (see here for instructions on how to join the forum if not already a member) or by email to the HPA webmaster.

Pension Statements for Deferred Members
It is understood that deferred HPS2 members do not receive routine statements of their forecast pension entitlements. If this is correct then HPA considers this to be another example of poor communication of the trustee as routine pension statements remind people of consider their retirement planning and ensure that the trustee has their up-to-date contact details. HPA recommends that all deferred HPS2 members routinely obtain a pension statement which can be requested from the HPS2 pensions admininstration team.

The Halcrow Foundation
Halcrow’s purpose was sustaining and improving the quality of people’s lives, and that lives on in the Halcrow Foundation which was established as a charity over 15 years ago. When Halcrow was sold to CH2M Hill the foundation received a substantial legacy in the form of funds remaining in the Halcrow Trust and has continued to support suitable projects. HPA was recently requested to publicise the availability of the 2020 Halcrow Foundation Annual Report which is available here.

Burderop Park
A reconnaissance was made in November to check the progress at Burderop Park and progress is shown in the photographs below. More will be taken in due course. Click on the photos to see larger images (you can compare them with previous photos in Newsletter 44). Anyone wanting to take a closer look at the work can see details of the homes on sale and book a viewing appointment here.

	New houses on southern side of the former sportsfield and tennis court
	A new block of terraced houses with the corner of the cottage on the right side of the photo.
	The layout submitted with the planning application approved in July 2020

The Need for HPA
The need for HPA continues and among the possible ongoing tasks to look after HPA members' interests are:
1.    To keep HPA members informed about HPS2 and other pension-related matters.
2.    To closely monitor HPS2, the HPS2 Trustee and Jacobs UK (the scheme sponsoring company) to see whether adequate contributions are being made to the pension scheme.
3.    To examine and comment on proposals for changes to pension-related laws or regulations where we think they would affect our interests.
4.    Take opportunities to press for better supervision of pension schemes and their sponsoring companies.
5.    To follow the potential changes in pension scheme rules arising from the Hampshire vs PPF and Bauer court decisions.
6.    To facilitate social networking between former Halcrow employees.

Previous Newsletters
If you haven't been with HPA from the start or want to remind yourself of previous events then you can browse through the previous newsletters for which there is a full list here.