Newsletter No. 8

 HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION 

 Newsletter No 8 : March 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 2014 Annual General Meeting

In accordance with HPA's constitution, an Annual General Meeting should take place. It is proposed that a virtual meeting will be held in April 2014 using a sub-forum of the HPA forum to which only paid-up members of HPA will be given access. This is your opportunity to contribute to the operation of HPA. Click on the heading for more details.

The proposed timescale for the annual general meeting is: 

The proposed agenda for the AGM is here. Nominations and items for the agenda can be posted in the 2014 AGM sub-forum or sent to the secretary (secretary at halcrowpensioners dot org dot uk).

Newsletter recipients are encouraged to attend the AGM and contribute to shaping the future for HPA. This will require (i) payment of an HPA membership subscription (if not already paid - bank transfers are preferred to avoid transaction charges) and registration for the HPA forum (if not already registered).

37 members participated in the previous AGM which was held in the HPA forum between 22^nd and 28^th April 2013. Click here to read the Minutes of the meeting.

We need a volunteer to audit the treasurer's financial statement. Would any volunteers please contact the treasurer (treasurer at halcrowpensioners dot org dot uk).

Membership of the Occupational Pensioners Alliance

Following a resolution at the AGM, the HPA has joined the Occupational Pensioners Alliance. The OPA has regular meetings usually held in SW London. The most recent meeting included a presentation on the role of the Pension Protection Fund (which you can read here). If any HPA member is interested to take part in the OPA AGM to be held in May or be nominated for the OPA committee then please contact the HPA secretary (secretary at halcrowpensioners dot org dot uk).

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. This review is now one year overdue and it is only 9 months until work on the next review should commence.

The HPA has been in contact with The Pensions Regulator and The Pensions Advisory Service. Further representations to protect your future pension are planned.

Readers are reminded that HPS has a serious deficit: Clause 12.3 of the Report on actuarial valuation as at 31st December 2008 stated "12.3. I also estimate that, at 31st December 2011, the Scheme would still have insufficient assets to provide PPF compensation."

Some Background Reading

Have you ever wondered why the HPS and many other pension schemes are underfunded? It doesn’t seem so long ago that we had contributions holidays because the scheme was considered to be well funded. There was a good explanatory article called "Actuaries and the pensions crunch" in the Economist in 2006.

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 and note the discussion about the pensions liabilities. 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.