HPPA and the Pre-97 Alliance members created several important high-profile events throughout September and October.
It began with Patricia & David Carson contacting Elaine Stewart, the Labour MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock right after her election in July 2024. Elaine has been a constant advocate for our cause and offered to arrange an informal “drop in event” at Westminster open to all MPs to hear about the Pre-97 pension injustice.
Following this discussion, HPPA asked members to write to their MPs and invite them to attend a meeting to be held at Portcullis house on 9th September, to hear first-hand how the impact of losing discretionary increases had affected them. The meeting between Alliance members and cross-party MPs was extremely successful because it produced a proposal for an amendment which would resolve our issue with non-payment of discretionary inflation increases.
The proposal of an amendment to Pension Bill 255 is gaining support and making it’s way through parliament.
HPPA and Alliance pensioners were encouraged to write to their MPs again and invite them to the next meeting with the House of Lords, which was planned for 29th October.
Meanwhile, Patricia was called to give evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee (W&PSC) on 22 October. Bill 255 leaves the resolution of the Pre-97 problem to the sponsoring company and the trustee. We have more than 2 decades of evidence about how that works out – “not”.
Patricia asked Pre-97 Alliance members to complete a survey on how confident pensioners were that Pre-97 injustice could be solved via the relationship between the company and trustee. 504 responses were received showing that we were “not so confident, or not at all confident”. Patricia delivered that message to the Select Committee on 22 Oct and we continue to feedback that message to Minister Torsten Bell through every means possible.
At the W&PSC meeting on 22nd October, other panel members included representatives from Amex, BP and the TUC. It was an excellent opportunity to present the facts in terms of the financial and well-being impacts on pensioners, the history of discretionary payments and when, (and in our view, why), they ceased, the relationship between the Trustee and the Company and the pensioner’s trust in the arrangement as highlighted in the survey, and finally what we wanted the government to do to stop the discrimination against Pre-97 pensioners.
The W&PSC video was shared on Facebook and YouTube and received 75 positive comments. In one member’s words ‘Well done to everyone for stepping up on our behalf. I agree that either the law needs to change or companies, who undertake this practice, are shamed by the government and possibly penalised/precluded across all public sector/defence contracts. Safeguards should clearly be strengthened in the balance and composition of Pension Scheme Administration. As Patricia said the purpose of Pension Schemes should be to provide sufficient funds for pensioners, not to provide a surplus. Where a surplus does exist, it should be pensioners who are considered first. Good point about AVC’s (additional Voluntary Contributions) too, and where did that extra money go? Perhaps that’s another significant point of misrepresentation. I certainly understood AVC’s were being used to strengthen and secure our long-term pension.’
After a few days home, Patricia led the HPPA & Pre-97 Alliance pensioners to the House of Lords on October 29th, where another informal session was open to all members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords to hear about our campaign for justice and our amendment to Bill 255. It was a long day and 9000 steps to get there, but existing supporters were there to spur us on, and new affiliations were made to take us nearer our goal.
Finally, on 30th October at an East Ayrshire Council meeting, HPPA’s campaign for pension justice was formally recognised and supported, and Patricia was given an accolade for the unrelenting effort she displayed throughout the campaign which has earned her widespread respect. Many residents of East Ayrshire were part of the workforce of Digital Equipment Scotland based at Mosshill Industrial Site, Ayr.
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