Your local group held it’s AGM at the British Legion Club, Oadby on Monday 22nd April in which a new committee was elected. Details about this can be found later in this newsletter.
Our next meeting is set for Monday 8th July at 2pm, Once again at the Royal British Legion Club, 4A Wigston Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 5QA. The club has its own (free) carpark. There is a regular bus service from Leicester. Tea and coffee will be available from 1:30 p.m.
We will be welcoming a guest speaker to the meeting, Dave Andrews formerly of BBC Radio Leicester who will presenting ‘100 Years of Auntie – A History of the BBC Radio & Television’ The illustrated talk tells the story of the BBC 100 years from its inception under Lord Reith through to the present. It covers the great days of radio and TV, famous voices and programmes and some incredible changes in broadcasting over those 100 years. Some nostalgic audio and video clips from programmes and events of the past are included.
The meeting agenda will be as follows.
1. WELCOME and APOLOGIES
2. CHAIR’S ADDRESS (Rob Jameson)
3. GUEST SPEAKER – Dave Andrews
4. TREASURER’S REPORT (Liz Ellis)
5. REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT (Kevin Billson)
6. Any Other Business
As always, the meeting will be conducted informally and all will be made to feel welcome including any partners or friends that members wish to bring with them.
A new committee was elected at the AGM and is as follows.
Leicestershire & Rutland CSPA Group Committee
Chair: Rob Jameson jamesonrobert1947@gmail.com
Tel: 0116 259 2680
Address: 19, Stretton Road, Great Glen, Leicester, LE8 9GN
Vice Chair: Simon Connolly simon1connolly@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 0116 271 8641
Address: 17, Sutton Close, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 5WT
Secretary: Kevin Billson kevinbillson@ntlworld.com
Tel: 07827 320 413
Address: 37, Galsworthy Crescent, Melton Mowbray, LE13 1JD
Treasurer: Liz Ellis
lizellis450@icloud.com
Tel: 0116 269 2399
Address: 7, The Hall, Queniborough Hall Drive, Queniborough, LE7 3DZ
Minutes: Haydn Starkey haydn.starkie@btinternet.com
Tel: 0116 269 3072
Address: 2, Hillcroft Close, Thurmaston, Leicester, LE4 8FW
Committee: Margaret Bagur margaretmmb@hotmail.co.uk
Tel: 0116 319 5140
Address: 8, The Lawns, Stoneygate Road, Leicester LE2 2AS
Philip Coomes
coomes.philip@outlook.com
Tel: 0116 271 8030
Address: 38 Victoria Court, Leicester Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4AG
Eamon Furey eamon.furey@ntlworld.com
Tel: 0116 273 7425
Address: 14, Church Road, Evington, Leicester, LE5 6FA
Ahmad Khwaja
ahmadkhwaja@yahoo.com
Tel: 07879 470584
Ziggy Robb
Z.Robb@ntlworld.com
Tel: 0116 233 1681
Address: 2C, Upperton Rise, Leicester, LE3 OHA
Minutes of the CSPA Leicestershire & Rutland AGM held on 22nd April 2024
prepared by Haydn Starkie, Minutes Secretary
1. Welcome and Apologies
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Kevin Billson, who had recently joined the Group and had been elected as the Midlands Regional Secretary. A special Welcome was given to Ahmad Khwaja who was attending his first meeting since his long illness. Apologies have been received from Jackie Towl.
2. Chair’s Address
Rob Jameson reported that the Group managed to get through the year despite not having a Secretary. Delegates had attended both the Regional Committee and National AGM and the Group had complied with all the requests received from HQ.
3. Treasurer’s Report
Liz Ellis reported that due to a surplus of income over expenditure, at the end of 2023, the Branch’s bank balance had grown to £907.27.
4. Election of Group Officers, Committee and Auditors
Existing group officers expressed their willingness to remain in the office. The Group had functioned for the past year without a secretary on account of Ahmad Kwarja suffering ill health and being unable to take up the post. The Chairman reported that this situation was unsustainable. Our guest speaker, Kevin Billson volunteered to take on this role. His offer was unanimously accepted.
5. Guest Speaker
Kevin Billson (CSPA Midland Regional Representative) opened the session by introducing himself. He has been a member of CSPA for only five months, having retired from the Prison Service 18 months ago. He joined the Prison Service in 1986 and became a member of the Prison Governors’ Association. Harry Brett persuaded him to take up the Midlands Area Secretary role because now there was no one else available. He was appointed unopposed. Kevin is married, has three sons and lives in Melton Mowbray.
The Challenges facing CSPA include declining membership. In 2018 there were 61 active groups represented at the AGM. By the 2023 AGM this had fallen to 34 groups with four members not represented by a group. Over that period, membership fell by 10,000 to 40,000. By 2028 membership could be down to 30,000. The Midlands region has four active groups, which between them account for 62% of the area’s membership.
Despite declining membership, there are still issues to campaign for such as the Government’s unwillingness to raise tax thresholds. Pensioners will therefore have to pay more of their pensions in income tax, as pensions increase. Kevin reported that the Civil Service Pension will be increased by 6.7% this year, in line with CPI, whilst the State Pension will increase by 8.5% as a result of the triple lock. The CSPA must put pressure on the Government to retain the triple lock because the combined Civil Service Pension and State Pension will only provide a basic lifestyle for most retired Civil Servants. CSPA is opposing the Government’s plans to systematically increase the pension age by supporting the National Pensioners Association’s ‘68 is too late’ campaign.
Administration of Civil Service pensions will be returned to CAPITA following a bidding process. CSPA will ask if CAPITA can send membership application forms out to those approaching retirement. Kevin added that is possible for new members to join on-line and the Association is welcoming 15 new members per week by this route.
Regarding the AGM, Kevin reported that this is likely to remain an annual in-person event and not be reduced to only one day. There will be some leeway to allow limited numbers of members not represented by a group to attend. The definition of what constitutes a quorum at AGMs is under review. He added that the title of General Secretary will remain unchanged.
The CSPA is also campaigning on the plight of those who, under the McLeod Remedy, were forced to move from the Classic pension scheme, with a pension based on final salary, to the Nuvos scheme where pensions are based upon career average salary. This has resulted in some receiving smaller pensions than if they had remained in the Classic scheme.
6. A.O.B
Eamon Furey reported that he will try to attend the Midlands regional meeting in Birmingham on the 12th June.
Don Makepeace has stood down as National Vice Chair. Two candidates are contesting an election for his replacement: Les Calder and Roisin Lilley. The Meeting agreed to vote for Roisin Lilley
News and Updates
CSPA Member Benefits
As a CSPA member, you are entitled to a wide range of membership benefits, including free initial legal advice; exclusive discounts on cruises; travel insurance, shopping discounts; free help and support on any computer problems; and much more.
For the most up-to-date information on our campaign activity, latest member benefits, plus regularly updated news items visit the membership section of the website at www.cspa.co.uk Further information can also be gained by email to enquiries@cspa.co.uk or
telephone on 020 8688 8418
Group Circular 955
Result Of Ballot For EC Vice Chair Post
GC 954 invited groups to vote for one of two nominated candidates to take up post of Vice Chair. Following a count of the votes cast on Tuesday 30th April by the Chief Scrutineer and Chief Teller, the results are as follows:
Roisin Lilley 12,078
Les Calder 7,371
Therefore, Roisin Lilley is duly elected to the EC Vice Chair post.
Civil Service Pensioner Newsletter – Spring 2024
The latest edition of the Pensioner Newsletter from MyCSP, (not to be confused with the CSPA Pensioner magazine) featuring the pension increase and questions around it, plus a guide to your P60 is now available to all working and active Civil Service Pension members. If you have not done so already it is worth visiting the MyCSP Pension Portal and creating a log-in or www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk which has lots of useful pension information and all the latest news for pensioners.
NPC Working Group Newsletters
CSPA is represented on the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) Working Group for Health & Social Care by our Health Policy Advisor, Jean Hardiman Smith and on the NPC’s Digital Working Party by our Deputy General Secretary, David Luxton. A flavour of the work that is being done on members’ behalf can be found in recent newsletters on the npcuk.org website
AGE INTERNATIONAL Open Letter To Minister Of State
Through our affiliation with AGE Platform Europe, we have been recognised by the United Nations as an accredited NGO with rights to consultation on the UN’s work in promoting the rights of older people through the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA).
The Deputy General Secretary attended a meeting at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the 28th March, along with other pensioner organisation representatives, to discuss the UK Government’s approach to strengthening the international legal framework for the rights of older people. The General Secretary counter-signed a letter addressed to Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office setting out AGE International’s expectations.
That’s all for now in our Spring Newsletter. We hope to see as many members as possible at our Summer Meeting on July 8th, don’t forget to put it in your diaries
