Newsletter No. 50

 HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION 

 Newsletter No. 50 : April 2022

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". As explained in Newsletter No. 48, membership subscriptions are currently suspended. If you do not wish to receive the HPA newsletters then please either use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email or email the webmaster to remove your name from the mailing list. If you know anyone who may be interested 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.

Best Practice in Pensions Communication
One of our committee members who transferred to the PPF has noticed a substantial difference between the PPF's approach towards communication with its members and the approach by the HPS2 trustee. He has prepared a comprehensive note setting out what has been done by some other pension schemes to ensure effective communication with the members. Read the note and compare what is done by others with HPS2. Some information about the schemes sponsored by Jacobs UK is published here but if you go to the specific HPS2 website there's nothing to be seen (not even the contact details) unless you have login credentials. Is this satisfactory?

The Lifetime Allowance
UK pension pots are tax-free up to a limit called the lifetime allowance which is currently £1,073,100. This seems to be a generous allowance but when pensions are spread across multiple defined benefit and defined contribution schemes then it's possible to exceed the allowance. HPA is planning to prepare a guidance noted for the benefit of members and would be interested to receive any comments and case histories from members which could be used anonymously to support the interpretation of official guidance.

Reminder of 2022 Annual General Meeting
Members are reminded that the 2022 AGM will be held in in the 2022 HPA AGM forum between 23rd and 30th April. The proposed schedule, which has been based on the pace of previous AGMs, for the meeting is:

A further email with more information will sent to those eligible to attend once the meeting is open. Please attend and provide your input. If you think you are eligible but do not receive the reminder then please contact the HPA webmaster.

Burderop Park From Above
Google Earth provides a fascinating view of the world from above and currently has a detailed image of the Burderop Park pavilions reduced to piles of rubble. While there are web-based and mobile versions of Google Earth the desktop version, called Google Earth Pro, is much more versatile and includes historic images. Details of how to obtain and install the desktop version are here and this version has been used to create the images below.

Newsletter 44 includes some ground level photos taken in March 2021 (shortly before the aerial image above) and Newsletter 48 includes some more recent photos.

Future HPA Initiatives
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.