Newsbrief No.88
2nd September 2011
Contents
1. CPI/ RPI: Ongoing
2. NAPS : Ascot Meeting
3. Capt Mike Post: Ballot Result
4. VPO : Latest
5. Absent Friends: Initiative
6. RPI Fighting Fund: Update
7. Correspondence
1.CPI/RPI: Ongoing
Following the APS Ascot Meeting, Mr Spencer Chairman of Trustees has told APS members & pensioners that the APS Trustees will await the result of the current court case brought by the Police Federation & the Civil Service Union to determine whether CPI is an appropriate index to replace RPI for the indexation of their pension schemes.
Certainly this case is of more than passing interest to APS members, NAPS members & beneficiaries as it draws general support to this issue. Likewise the HM Govt e-petition calling for a parliamentary debate to return the government cost of living index to RPI has polled some 33000 names in support. At least 100,000 are needed by next Spring so even if you cannot get on the web ask a friend for help to vote. The Court case really serves only to show the general dissatisfaction with the introduction of CPI to replace RPI in some schemes.
Now the BA Pensions Trust Deed is specific in Part 6 of APS that “full indexation” is what has been paid for with members’ pension contributions. Because CPI assumes that pensioners will trade down in the face of rising prices year on year they will suffer a continual fall in their standard of living by the definition of CPI. It works this way because it was designed to do so. As such it is clearly not appropriate for our BA Pensions because full indexation cannot be achieved with this mechanism for APS; and similarly in NAPS the reduced indexation is also eroded unacceptably. The HMG Annual Review Order for annual increases does not casually over rule the BA Pension Scheme Trust Deeds. So whatever happens in the court case mentioned, CPI as already introduced by BA Trustees, does not fulfil what our schemes set out to provide.
In fact it will achieve exactly the opposite, as pensioners get further into retirement; and exactly the opposite of what was intended and what members were told they were buying using RPI.
ABAP reminds members that our Schemes’ Recovery Plan confidently projects recovery using RPI with all the same financial variables considered as in any financial projection into the future (Or Iberia would not have bought the Merger with BA).
It is not at all clear why both APS & NAPS pensioners must suffer this feverish financial fixing when the 2012 Triennial Scheme Valuation is almost upon us to put clear Fact amongst the Fog.
ABAP also sees that common Management Trustees in their present constituency can no longer truly deliberate impartially in both schemes. When APS was” the only show in town” all Trustees were APS Members. With APS long closed & NAPS also (but later), the situation is that the Management Trustee element (common to both schemes) is now all NAPS members.
As we have seen recently this is fine for NAPS who were recently awarded a £50m boost to some benefits. It is not so funny when the same Trustees held out against even giving RPI for one year to APS for an estimated cost of £5m., despite the unequal deficit state of the Schemes.
ABAP is calling for separate Management elements ideally totally independent of the scheme they are representing as the present arrangement allows the current lot not to play cricket.
ABAP awaits the meetings of the new APS Trustee Board this Autumn with more than the usual interest.
2. NAPS Ascot Meeting Tuesday13th September.
The meeting will start at 10.00am. There will be an ABAP presence outside the meeting with identifiable ABAP Committee members holding leaflets etc.
The provisional Agenda for the NAPS Meeting is as follows:
Introductions
Trustees Presentation
Questions & Answers
Vote on the Resolution of the Meeting.
(NB The wording of the Resolution will be given at the Meeting)
ABAP welcomes any Member who wishes to come to Ascot in Outside Support for NAPS Members.
3. Captain Mike Post: 3 Questions APS Ballot Result.
The 3 Question APS Ballot Results from Electoral Reform Services are given below:
Number of ballot papers sent out : 26257
Number of Ballot valid papers returned: 12116……………………46.1%
(Question wording paraphrased below:
Question 1. “Should Annual Increases be hard wired to RPI ?”
In Favour………94%
Against…………5%
Question 2. “ Should there be a full legal review of the Governance of APS between 1983 & 2001?”
In Favour………90%
Against………….9%
Question 3. “ Do You Support Captain Mike Post as The APS Scheme Beneficiary Representative in any High Court RPI/CPI proceedings?”
In Favour……… 94%
Against…………..5%
This overwhelming result clarifies any doubt or misunderstanding that may have lingered with the Chairman of Trustees & APS Management Trustees that Captain Mike Post indeed does have and maintains the support and trust of APS Pensioners that he has held for over 11years.
The Trustees are obliged to take note of this result. ABAP will be ready to remind them if necessary.
4. VPO ( For new Members VPO= Variable Pension Option/Level Pension)
Members will recall that the ABAP complaint using a single VPO pensioner has been lodged with the Pensions Ombudsman for a twelvemonth having been through the BA Pensions complaint procedure as laid down. As reported an interim report was anticipated in the New Year 2011. ABAP is using specialist lawyers to forward the complaint as is well known. Despite this there have been no reports of the progress made in coming to a conclusion. At this point it should be remembered that the other choice offered to ABAP by the previous Chairman of Trustees in the face of our objection to the placing of a VPO discussion embargo until 2013 was either to go to through the courts or go to the Ombudsman.
Members will know that our Membership contains a significant number of VPO pensioners; but they are not the majority of our members. Therefore ABAP is constrained in the sum of money we can fairly spend on this issue. It was known that the Ombudsman was not” Fast Track”, but Time, for Members who have been in this from the beginning, is thinning the ranks.
The VPO interim report was reliably expected at the end of July. For whatever reason (but NOT Royal Mail) it has not arrived. ABAP has informed our lawyers that we have contacted the Ombudsman direct to find out politely what is causing this perplexing delay. We now have the name of the Ombudsman concerned with our VPO.
The reason for the delay is he needs the details of the VPO adjustment calculations made at BA Pensions in 1973 & 1984. BA Pensions Trustees Minutes somewhat surprisingly do not cover these details. However, the scheme actuary at those dates (which are Triennial Valuation times) must hold further information as he would have to oversee any changes made. ABAP has therefore provided the Pensions Ombudsman with information to enable him with his automatic authority to request the information he needs from the scheme actuary to proceed with the VPO complaint.
ABAP is hopeful that the Ombudsman will also use his authority to request a VPO Statement of Account. ABAP has also briefed the new Pensioner Trustees that in a step towards Wind Up we are looking for a VPO Statement of Account.
5. Absent Friends: Initiative.
Members will recall last year ABAP made an offer to BA to produce a replacement Touchdown magazine for pensioners which would have been in the form of a monthly newspaper style for a small subscription(then about £10pa). This offer failed to take off and the suggestion withered on the vine. Now Touchdown has gone but its ritzy replacement is a mite too pricey for many pensioners.
With the real co operation of BA pensions personnel, ABAP is working towards adding a consecutive Absent Friends page along the lines of Touchdown at the end of each ABAP Newsbrief. However, Members will still be expected to read all the Newsbrief.
6. RPI Fighting Fund: Update.
There has been a strong response to the RPI fighting fund both with cash & pledges. As members have read there is still no actual time scale for when the RPI issue goes to court. But ABAP cannot see any lasting solution without a Judge’s decision sooner or later because the judgement must be specific to our scheme and not general.
Therefore the ABAP Committee fully backs the Treasurer’s wish to keep the pledges coming, to be called when we have a court date or other indication. Affordable cheques should be made out to the “ ABAP RPI Fighting Fund” and are equally welcome with the Treasurer, at:
“ABAP RPI Fighting Fund”
The ABAP Treasurer
41 Linkway
Crowthorne Berkshire
RG45 6ES
You can of course donate online here (although Paypal do charge us a commission, and from that point of view cheques are preferable) if that is more convenient.
7. Correspondence.
Lastly, the Chairman sincerely thanks everybody who has written or forwarded emails & letters to him about ABAP, MPs, BA or Middle East affairs etc. They have all been read and are most helpful but they are now too numerous for a personal reply. Make a note of the ABAP AGM Thursday October 6th.
The Committee is most grateful for the warm support expressed therein.
The Committee ABAP. 2nd September 2011