Delegates gathered in Blackpool in September for the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) Annual Convention (previously known as the Pensioners’ Parliament).

Rescheduling the convention to early autumn meant it coincided with the change of government and the announcement of the abolition of the universal winter fuel allowance (WFA) for all but the poorest pensioners.

This gave many of the debates a more passionate feel. It also meant delegates could see the famous Blackpool lights on reasonably pleasant evenings.

The CSPA team of Andy and Anne Aitchison, Les Calder and Brian and Sylvia Sturtevant stayed, with many other delegates, in the Imperial Hotel, where all the debates were held. Here, we highlight the major issues discussed.

The Convention was opened by the Mayor of Blackpool, Councillor Peter Hunter, and Barry Todman, NPC Vice President, chaired the opening session. The theme was ‘The state of the older nation 2024 and the end of the WFA’. NPC General Secretary Jan Shortt introduced the session and listed the actions taken so far by the NPC. MPs had been inundated with letters and visits from constituents, but the government seemed set on sticking to its decision. She was worried there would be further benefit cuts in the October Budget.

Eorann Lean from Age UK outlined the organisation’s WFA campaign, highlighting those most at risk, those living just above pension credit, those with high energy costs due to disabilities or illness, and the one million eligible pensioners who have not applied for pension credit. Speaking via an online link, Dr Katie Bramall Stainer, the British Medical Association’s GPs committee chair, gave a video presentation, ‘GPs are on your side’, highlighting the problems we are all too familiar with. GPs are short-staffed and overworked; the solution is to solve the pay and staffing problems.

Labour peer Bryn Davies gave an insight into the upcoming Pensions Bill, which could divert money from pension funds into schemes for increasing growth. The WFA cuts could be part of that strategy.

Privatisation of the NHS

After lunch, we discussed whether a digital NHS and privatisation are good for our health. The session was introduced by Dr Jean Hardiman Smith, the CSPA’s health policy adviser, who said digital information can be inadequate, out of date and cause more medical problems.

She introduced Dr Bob Gill, an NHS campaigner and director of the film The Great NHS Heist, who argued that the NHS is already privatised. The government has been quietly selling it off bit by bit for the past 14 years and we have been conned into believing it is being run for our benefit rather than the new owners’. It is an NHS in name only; we just don’t have to pay directly for it.

Most disturbing is the trend of new corporate group practices employing physician associates – who only have a two-year unaccredited degree and are unregulated – to save money. Insist you see a properly qualified doctor next time you visit your GP. This will be an important campaigning issue for the NPC with the new government.

Dr Gill’s arguments were backed up Diarmaid McDonald, Executive Director of Just Treatment, who said the Andy Aitchison, Les Calder and Brian Sturtevant report back from this year’s NPC gathering Blackpool 2024 Conference report WINTER ISSUE 2024 | The Pensioner 7 Conference report involvement of profit-oriented groups results in more people dying, with outsourcing causing more infection due to failings in hygiene and cleanliness. There is much to do to retain the NHS we all want in line with the ideals of its founding fathers, he said.

The next session, which looked at digital challenges affecting older people, was chaired by Sandra Durkin, NPC Vice President. Nav Hussain, a manager at BT’s Digital Voice, explained how the switch from analogue to digital phone lines is being managed. But delegates did not seem convinced, with many expressing practical concerns. The NPC has pledged to monitor the process.

Owen Sloss, on behalf of the Campaign for Better Transport, showed how digital solutions are helping to improve transport services, but much more could be done.

Phoebe Sleet of the Digital Poverty Alliance, which campaigns for digital inclusion, said people who remain offline feel excluded and left behind, and lose confidence. Both traditional and digital means should be maintained within society, she said, so that these people, especially the elderly, can stay in contact with others and not feel isolated.

Future of the state pension

The second day started with the keynote session, ‘The future of the state pension’, chaired by CSPA President Brian Sturtevant. He started by describing the work of the Pensions and Incomes Working Party, which included looking at the inflation rate, the triple-lock and pension credit.

He also outlined the NPC’s involvement in WASPI and ageism campaigns, monitoring occupational pensions, auto-enrolment, pension dashboards and the pension regulator.

Our recommendations to the National Committee have helped decide NPC policy. We had discussed alternatives to dropping the WFA, including adding it to the state pension so it became taxable, while at the same time raising the tax threshold. This would be a far more acceptable alternative to depriving 10 million people of a vital lifeline.

Brian introduced Heléna Herklots, the retiring Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, who gave a comprehensive presentation on her work to represent and enhance pensioners’ conditions in Wales.

She made the telling point that if there had been an equivalent position in England and Scotland, the government would have had to consult beforehand about the abolition of WFA, it would have never happened, and an alternative strategy, acceptable to all, would have been found.

Yet despite vigorous campaigning by the NPC, we still have no Older People’s Commissioners for England and Scotland. We therefore have work to do with the new government to convince them of the usefulness of the post.

Morgan Vine, a director at Independent Age, explained the organisation’s work and how it supplies free information, guidance and practical help to older Blackpool 2024 people, especially to those who are living below the poverty line – calculated to be about two million. The CSPA is affiliated to Independent Age, receiving and supplying information, and finds the arrangement mutually helpful.

Caren Evans from the Unite union, who is responsible for the 68 Is Too Late campaign, encouraged everyone to contact their MP regarding the vote on the WFA and the possible extension of the pension age to 68.

Unite’s research has found that many working people will struggle to continue to work until 68, leaving many customers of the service industries vulnerable to errors, she said. The possibility of the government seeing pensioners as easy targets was becoming more realistic.

Clare Wilkins, from the NPC’s Climate Change Working Party, led the next session and held a quick quiz among delegates based on the key issues and common misconceptions in the area of climate change.

The final session had Jan Shortt summarising the key issues from the past two days. We were left in no doubt as to the enormity of the problems facing us – but at least the sun was shining as we started our journeys home.