Newsletter No. 55
HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION
Newsletter No. 55 : December 2023
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 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 of this email and encourage them to sign up for their own newsletters here.
The HPA committee wishes all readers an enjoyable Christmas and a prosperous 2024.
Letter to the Trustee About PPF Underpin
HPA sent to the Trustee in June 2023 seeking clarification about the PPF underpin (the promise that those who joined HPS2 would be better off than if they transferred to the PPF). HPA has never received a direct reply to this letter, although we have been chasing the Pensions Team regularly. We have recently spoken directly to the Pensions Manager on this and she confirms that there will be a note on the topic circulated soon to the scheme website. We do not consider such a delay to be an acceptable performance. The Trustee issued an HPS2 newsletter in September 2023 which covered a number of topics but not this.
The Deprived Pensioners Association
The Deprived Pensioners Association has now raised £40,000 with a current target of £50,000. HPA has donated £500 on the basis that if DPA is successful then HPA members may become entitled to pension increases in respect of pre-April 1997 contributions. Readers of this newsletter are encouraged to visit the DPA website and decide whether they want to individually support the DPA. Roger Sainsbury of the DPA provided evidence at the Parliamentary Work & Pensions Committee meeting on defined benefit pensions. The whole meeting can be watched here with the pensioner representatives speaking during the first half. It's an illuminating alternative to normal Christmas television.
Trustee Reports on Scheme Funding
The Trustee has issued (i) a Summary Funding Statement at 31 December 2022 (issued September 2023) and (ii) the XPS Pensions Scheme Funding Report on Actuarial Valuation at 31 December 2022 (issued 6 November 2023) which provide the data which supported the previously announced Trustee decision to suspend company contributions. Contribution suspension is now intended to continue for the time being as the scheme assets have continued to exceed the liabilities and will be reviewed after the next triennial scheme valuation. The Trustee states that this change in the health of HPS2 is due to higher interest rates although a significant factor is that inflation has reduced the present value of future pensions to be paid as a significant proportion of these are unaffected by either interest rates or inflation. A comprehensive commentary on these two documents is presented here.
Readers may recall that in 2022 HPS wrote to the Trustee (see Newsletter No. 51) requesting that a discretionary increase to pensions be considered in accordance with scheme rules and the Trustee responded that such an increase would be inappropriate at the time. The subsequent announcements have made it evident that a discretionary increase could have been incompatible with the company's desire to stop paying contributions at the first opportunity. One only needs to browse the Jacobs policy document on Trustee director appointments, responsibilities and requirements to realise who is in control. The Pensions Manager also recently agreed that all those who had written earlier this year to complain about the Company decision to suspend contributions, should receive a written reply.
The Capita Data Leak
Capita, who had a contract to administer the HPS2 pensions payments, suffered a cyber-intrusion in March 2023. On 18th July 2023 Capita, on behalf of the Trustee, sent a 3 page letter to HPS2 pensioner members advising what personal data may have been involved in the incident. Various legal companies have realised that there is an opportunity to make money from compensation claims. Has anyone signed up to one of these schemes? If so, please contact the HPA webmaster.
Deceased Former Colleagues
The HPS2 website maintains a list of deceased HPS2 members. A copy of the list of those who have departed in the past two years is available here. An update to the list is overdue and it will not include anyone who either did not transfer to HPS2 or has subsequently transferred out of HPS2.
Burderop Park
Burderop Park has been progressively turned into what the developer calls "an exclusive collection of just 58 thoughtfully designed new homes". According to the local press the mansion has been sold to a local developer and we wait to see what evolves. Will the building join the collection of other listed buildings in the Swindon area which have become derelict?
Some readers will remember Burderop Park in happier times. If you have any memories to share then there's a place in the HPA forum for them. Feel free to set up similar discussions for the other Halcrow offices.
Future HPA Activities
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. Continue to compare the compensation, benefits and received support of our members within both HPS2 and the PPF.
4 To examine and comment on proposals for changes to pension-related laws or regulations where we think they would affect our interests.
5. Take opportunities to press for better supervision of pension schemes and their sponsoring companies.
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.