Newsletter No. 7
HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION
Newsletter No 7 : January 2014
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@halcrowpensioners dot org dot uk to remove your name.
The 2013 Annual General Meeting
37 members participated in the AGM which was held in the HPA forum between 22nd and 28th April 2013.
Click here to read the Minutes of the AGM.
HPA Membership Subscription
During the 2013 AGM, it was agreed to continue with the £10 per year HPA membership subscription. Subscriptions for 2014 are nowdue. The payment methods are here (bank transfer preferred to avoid the PayPal tax).
The committee is seeking a member who would be willing to audit the HPA accounts. Any volunteers please contact the webmaster.
Membership of the Occupational Pensioners Alliance
Following a resolution at the AGM, the HPA has joined the Occupational Pensioners Alliance. The website for the OPA is http://www.opalliance.org.uk/ and more details of its objectives are summarised here.
Recovering Tax Relating to the Halcrow Trust Distribution
Further to previous advice about recovering tax on the Employer’s National Insurance on the Halcrow Trust distribution, there have been reports that the recommended procedure is successful. See the HPA forum for more details.
The 2012 Halcrow Holdings Annual Report
The 2012 Halcrow Holdings Annual Report was received at Companies House on 20th August 2013. Turnover declined from £387.8 million in 2011 to £350.1 million in 2012, a reduction of 10 per cent. A loss before taxation of £104.6 million in 2011 was reduced to a loss before taxation of £20.5 million in 2012 which means that the new owners had to put in further money to keep Halcrow solvent. Some significant extracts from the report are discussed here.
The Triennial Pension Review
The triennial pension review for the Halcrow Pension Scheme, as at 31st December 2011, should have been completed and the report issued by the legal deadline of 31st March 2013 together with an updated funding plan agreed with the company. Since the 2012 Halcrow Holdings Annual Report includes a detailed analysis of the overall pension funding and the trustees receive quarterly updates on investment performance, it has to be presumed that the reason for non-publication of the triennial pension review is a failure to agree a new funding plan with the company. The HPA wrote to the chairman of the trustees to request information on the pension liabilities at 31st December 2011 be published, even if details of the updated funding plan could not be made available, but this request for information was declined. The HPA committee is considering an appropriate response to the situation, as it appears the law is being flouted.
Building Design Partnership Pension Scheme
Recently, the HPA chairman was contacted via the OPA by a member of the Building Design Partnership (BDP) pension scheme (which was closed in 2002) who had just been informed of the scheme trustees' intention to transfer the scheme to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) because the pension scheme contributions would have otherwise made the company insolvent. Details of BDP's financial situation are here. This represents an example of how a company can dispose of pension scheme liabilities if insolvency is the alternative. The possibility that Halcrow's owners are exploring a similar mechanism for disposing of the HPS liabilities cannot be discounted. We are advised that BDP pensioners were given only a few hours consultation on the change to their scheme, and the HPA committee is considering contingency plans for an emergency response in the event the HPS is faced with a similar challenge. This further underlines the need for a wide and active membership of the HPA.
Member-Nominated HPS Trustees
In August 2013 the HPS Trustees asked for nominations to replace the two member-nominated trustees, who were due to complete their period of service. Two HPA committee members were nominated in response to this request with the knowledge that if they were selected, they would stand down from their HPA responsibilities. It is a matter of regret to the HPA that neither were selected. Nonetheless, the HPA looks forward to working with all HPS trustees on the common objective of securing the future of the HPS.
Purpose of HPA
As individuals we have limited voice, but collectively we stand a better chance of being heard and influencing future changes. In addition to forming a platform for talking to past colleagues, HPA provides, for the first time, a collective body to represent member's interests to the trustees. We need members, both to be able to demonstrate the numbers of people concerned about the welfare of the Halcrow Pension Scheme and also to raise a fund to meet legal or other costs that may be needed quickly to protect your pension interests – we anticipate that if HPA needs to take action then time will be of the essence. Perhaps it is timely to remind people to re-read the transcript of the Court Hearing in 2011. As a minimum please make sure you are on our mailing list.
We are relying on personal networks to spread the news of our existence as the HPS trustees have declined to make HPS members aware of HPA's existence though one of their routine mailings. We remind all the recipients of this newsletter to spread the word by forwarding this email to anyone else whom you think may be a member (pensioner, deferred or contributing) of the Halcrow Pension Scheme. It is better that they receive multiple copies of this email than remain unaware of the HPA. We would also request people to update their details in our newsletter database (particularly those people for which we only have a Halcrow email address which are now being phased out). If you received this email directly then please use the link at the bottom of the email to access your details.
Thank you from the HPA committee.