Group Meetings: take place on the last Tuesday of the month (except July, August and December) at 2pm, at the Girl Guide Hut, Marion Hill House, Tadworth Avenue, New Malden, KT3 6DJ.
Business Secretary: Marion Williams, sopapop@btinternet.com
Membership/Treasurer: Clive Scammell, 125 Windsor Avenue, Cheam, Sutton SM3 9RX, tel: 0208 644 5493, clivescammell@sky.com
The Committee writes:
It has finally happened. Closed Groups are being merged with neighbouring active Groups. Kingston & Hillingdon have campaigned for this since 2016 when we raised a motion at the AGM. In 2023 a motion was carried by the AGM. Thanks to the efforts of David Owen, our London Regional Representative, members of the closed Epsom Group have now been allocated to Kingston & Croydon Groups by postcode.
The KT postcodes previously allocated to Epsom, plus SM4 and SM7, have been transferred to Kingston & District Group, which is why some of you will be receiving this newsletter for the first time.
Welcome to all the new members who joined from Epsom. It would be great to see some of you in person at one of our monthly meetings.
Brian Parks stood down as our Chair at the AGM in January. He was congratulated and thanked by attendees of the AGM for all the work that he did in his 8 year tenure. Brian was presented with a locally produced Certificate of Merit. He did not qualify for a CSPA certificate because he had not completed 10 years service.
There were no nominees to replace Brian. The Group was faced with the prospect of closing or continuing to function without a chair. The AGM voted in favour of the latter.
Members of the group have liaised and made representations to other pensioner groups (Age) and local MPs on common issues and digital exclusion e.g. doctor appointments, car parking, public toilets etc.
London Regional Group meeting – 4 July
We were represented at the meeting by David Neilson. Representatives from the Eastern Region, which is now down to four active groups, also attended. The meeting was chaired by David Owen, our Regional Representative and addressed by Sally Tsoukaris, the CSPA General Secretary.
Being the day of the general election Sally outlined how the CSPA had studied the main party manifestoes and the possible impact on pensioners. Following the election the CSPA will get in touch with ministers to follow up the possible policy developments outlined in the relevant manifesto. She went on to provide a comprehensive update on numerous issues affecting pensioners generally, including our input to the National Pensioners Convention and Later Life Ambitions, before focusing on CSPA issues. Updates were provided on our work on civil service pension overpayment cases, digital exclusion, the McLeod Remedy Programme, the position of widows/widowers of civil service pensioners on remarriage and our input into the movement of our pension administration to Capita from December 2025.
Some time was spent discussing the strength of the CSPA (estimated at 35/36,000) following the exercise to validate the new database. Although there has been a recent increase in new members, we continue to fail to recruit sufficient numbers to replace those who ‘depart’. There was general agreement that the future of the Alliance depended on good financial management, a clear focus on recruitment and a flexible approach to regional and group boundaries. As part of the recruitment and retention process it was interesting to hear how some of the Groups present had tried to improve their situation by holding occasional meetings in another location within their boundary or changing the day of their meeting. Any ideas that our members have about meetings would be welcome.
CSPA AGM 2024
The AGM is in October. The committee asked members to put forward suggestions for motions that ideally fall within the CSPA campaign priorities. Having discussed at both the May and June monthly meetings, no new ideas, other than those already being taken forward by HQ, were identified. The Group therefore submitted a nil return for motions. We nominated David Owen as London Regional representative. We aim to give members feedback on the AGM at our November Group meeting.
Recommendations of Working Party for future format of AGM
A Working Party (WP) was set up in response to Remitted Motion A17/22 from the 2022 AGM which had called for the EC to consider having alternate years of an on-line AGM and in-person meeting.
The WP consulted with Groups, Branches, and individual members. Their report was submitted to the EC. The final recommendations have been submitted to Groups prior to this year’s AGM and if accepted will take effect from 2025. They are:
Recommendation 1.
The AGM format should continue to be in-person physical event and not a virtual on-line meeting;
Recommendation 2.
The AGM should continue to be held each year and not every two years
(subject to overiding cost considerations);
Revised Recommendation 3.
Keynote speeches at the AGM (of the GS address; and key Guest Speakers) should be video recorded, subject to value for money, and uploaded to the CSPA Website for member viewing.
Revised Recommendation 4.
Holding a one day AGM in a central City was considered but was ruled out due to the costs of hotel accommodation that would still be required which would negate any savings compared to the current arrangements ; and would lose the networking contacts between delegates at the AGM
Revised Recommendation 5.
The Working Party recommends steps to improve the existing opportunity for members not covered by a local Group or Branch to attend and participate in the AGM by funding a number of individual delegate places, at the discretion of the EC, in addition to the existing right of any member not covered by a local Group or Branch to attend the AGM at their own expense. The number of funded places would have to be limited on cost grounds as determined by the EC each year.
The Working Party noted that the EC would be putting a Rule change, as recommended by the EC`s Constitution Working Party, to the 2024 AGM in a an EC motion in line with Recommendation 5.
The Working Party concluded that the above recommendations would not require a policy motion to the AGM, other than the proposed Rule change.
The full Report of the AGM Working Party will be available to read in the
Members` area of the CSPA website: www.cspa.co.uk
Eat with the Ancestors – Mama’s date cake
Maggie Paul baked a cake for Brian Park’s when he left the Group. It is based on a War time recipe that a mother cooked for her 7 children and the US troops stationed nearby. It is called Mama’s cake. It id delicious.
To make the cake you will require:
1 cup sugar (6oz) brown or white
1 cup water – 200ml
2 cups sultanas (9oz)
1 cup chopped dates (5oz)
2 cups self raising flour (10oz to11oz)
4oz (qtr lb) margarine
2 eggs
Half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
Method:
Put all the above ingredients, excl the eggs and bicarbonate of soda, in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
Add two beaten eggs, the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix well. Place is a suitable cake tin and bake in a low oven 170C for an hour and a half. As an extra indulgence you can add a sprinkle of nuts to the top before baking.
Our next Group meeting will take place on 24th September. Guest speaker to be advised. Hope to see you then.
Enjoy the summer
