NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING 2024
The 27th Annual Meeting of the Teesside Group will be held on Thursday 14th March 2024 at St Mary’s Centre 82 – 90 Corporation Road, Middlesbrough at 2pm. We aim to finish by 3.30 pm.
If you want to put forward items for discussion at the AGM or if you want to nominate someone for an elected position at Group and/or at National level, please put them in writing to reach me at the address on this notice by the 28th February 2024. This also applies to any motions for submission to the national Annual General Meeting in October. The Agenda for the AGM is below.
Now this is where in time honoured tradition I ask you to pay a voluntary subscription towards the running of our group. However, the group’s expenses have reduced significantly. We now use online communications wherever possible and also we haven’t had a second delegate to the national AGM recently. This means we have sufficient funds on hand to meet our needs for the time being. So, we are not asking for any contributions this year.
The key issue the group is facing is the decline in numbers attending our meetings. We appreciate that most members are happy with their membership and the knowledge that the CSPA continues to defend their pensions and to campaign on key issues. And also of course the Alliance is there for support if any issues arise regarding payment of individual pensions. We do though still have over 150 members in the TS area. However, we need people to do the key jobs and keep the show on the road. We’re none of us getting any younger! The three or four stalwarts will keep pressing on, but it would be nice to see some new faces. We really do need help to keep the group going.
The key piece of good news is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his autumn statement confirmed the Government’s commitment to the State Pensions ‘Triple Lock’ following petitions and sustained campaigning on the part of the CSPA and other organisations lobbying on behalf of pensioners. This means that from April 2024 the new state pension will be increased by 8.5% to £221.20 per week, which is equivalent to up to £900 or more a year for pensioners (note – it is currently £203.85 per week). The new State Pension was introduced from 6 April 2016 for those reaching State Pension Age (SPA) after that date (note – rates in payment will differ dependent on National Insurance contributions). For those who reached their SPA before April 2016, the ‘old’ or ‘basic’ State Pension applies. The basic SP is currently £156.20 per week, which is obviously much less than the ‘new’ SP, but many pre-2016
pensioners also receive the 2nd State Pension (formerly known as SERPS) based on their earnings and NI record. The legacy second State Pension is not subject to the Triple Lock, so increases in line with CPI inflation, and the CSPA continues to campaign for a closer alignment of the two State Pension rates. The basic rate at which income tax becomes payable has been frozen since April 2021, and the Autumn Statement said that it will remain frozen until 2028! This effectively drags more and more pensioners into the 20% tax bracket, especially after the 2023/24 increases of 10.1% to the State Pension and Civil Service pension were implemented. This alone has resulted in 770,000 more over 65s paying tax on part of their State Pension this year, according to HMRC. In 2010, HMRC figures suggest that 4.5 million over 65s were subject to income tax, whilst figures for 2023 indicate that 8.5 million over 65s now pay income tax. The CSPA has been lobbying with partners in other pensioner organisations for the freeze to be lifted and for tax thresholds to be uprated annually in line with the CPI increases. CSPA has submitted a motion to the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) Conference in this regard. All public sector pensions, including the Civil Service pension, are index-linked to inflation, with increases since 2011 being based on the preceding September Consumer Price Index (CPI). The anticipated increase from the 8th April 2024 will therefore be 6.7%, based on the ONS announcement on 18th October 2023 of the September figure for the CPI. The full increase only applies to pensions that have been in payment for a full year on the 8th April 2024, so those who have more recently retired will see their increases applied pro rata.
The Cabinet Office Pensions team has confirmed to CSPA that Capita Business Services Ltd (Capita) have been awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme from December 2025, following a long procurement selection process. The current service provider, MyCSP, will continue to administer the scheme during the two-year transitional period to December 2025. The new contact will run from December 2025 for seven years to 2032, with the option to extend it by a further period of up to three years. At a meeting with CSPA officers on the 28th November, the Cabinet Office pensions team confirmed their commitment “to develop their transition and transformation plans for delivering an effective service” for the 1.5 million members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and to continue active engagement with CSPA and other stakeholders during the two-year transition to their service transformation. Capita will be responsible for delivering employer and member services; pensions payroll; as well as administrative support for the Civil Service Injury Benefit Scheme; Compensation Scheme; and related finance and accounting services.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting if possible, but if not, we extend our good wishes and appreciation for your continued support. We will be in the meeting room by 1-30 with tea, coffee and biscuits so please feel free to drop in early for a chat.
Yours sincerely,
JOHN BUTLER Group Secretary
