22 August 2023
WEST MERCIA GROUP NEWSLETTER NUMBER 7 – AUTUMN 2023
CSPA West Mercia Group Officers – 2023/24
Chair: Valerie Farmer 01684 569266 valerie.farmer@tiscali.co.uk
Vice Chair: Malcolm Moore 01531 660457 malcolm.m.a.moore@btinternet.com
Treasurer: Helen Connelly 01905 830451 helen.connelly12@gmail.com
Secretary: David Humphreys 01562 631188 dnhumphreys@gmail.com
(David also covers Membership matters)
How We Work
CSPA West Mercia Group began life in February 2022 following the merger of the Hereford & Worcester Group and the closed Shropshire Group. Our 838 members reside in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire. CSPA nationally has about 40,000 members.
West Mercia Group last met on 26 June and 28 June 2023 in Hereford and Wellington, respectively. We next meet on Monday 18 September at 2.00pm at the Quaker Meeting House, 1 Sansome Walk, Worcester, WR1 1UG, and on Wednesday 20 September at 1.30pm at the United Reformed Church, Coleham Head, Shrewsbury, SY3 7BJ. We run them fairly informally and they last no more than 2 hours. The meetings at Hereford, Wellington and Worcester are preceded by an optional pub lunch nearby. Meetings end with a refreshing cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit. The pub lunch at Worcester is at The Crown at Crown Passage from 12 noonish. We hope that the acting Midlands Regional Representative, Harry Brett, will be in attendance at the Worcester meeting.
Our planned occasional online gatherings using the free Zoom platform, which will complement the quarterly in-person meetings, will take off soon. The zoom link will be sent to everyone in our 140-strong email group. If you wish to join our email group, please contact the Group Secretary.
Payment of Your Civil Service Pension – MyCSP
MyCSP pays your Civil Service pension. Its contact details are: MyCSP, PO Box 2017, Liverpool, L69 2BU; Phone: 0300 123 6666 (Mon-Fri: 0830 -1800). Full information about the pension scheme is on the scheme website at: http;//civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk, including various “what to expect” guides. You can also register for the Civil Service Pension Portal, which gives online access to your pension information.
If you experience any problems with your civil service pension, which MyCSP can’t or won’t resolve, please contact the Group Secretary for help and advice.
CSPA National Annual General Meeting 2023
The CSPA National AGM is held each October at the Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth. The national annual report and statement for accounts for 2022 (issued with the Summer 2023 edition of “The Pensioner”) will be presented for adoption, elections will be held for the Executive Council, and motions on various issues of interest to older people will be debated. The Group Secretary will represent us at the National AGM, and we also hope to send an additional sponsored representative there.
We have submitted the following three motions for debate:
1. AGM Motions Workplan
This AGM notes with concern:
• The continuing and unexplained omission from the new national website of the 2019 AGM Motions workplan, despite much outstanding work
• The continuing delay in publishing the workplan for the 2022 AGM Motions.
This AGM affirms the importance, both for effective administration and accountability, for the Executive Council to draw up and publish promptly, and to update as necessary, the AGM Motions workplan, which also enables the membership to be kept involved and informed about the important work of the CSPA. It instructs the Executive Council to act accordingly.
2. Implementation of 2022 AGM Motion A18
This AGM notes with concern the virtual silence from the Executive Council for 9 months following the passage of Motion A18 at the 2022 AGM, despite its accepted prime importance to the future existence of CSPA. In belatedly issuing GC 940, the EC:
• essentially has rehearsed again at great length all that was known and said at the 2022 AGM.
• has neither prepared nor implemented an imaginative and costed recruitment workplan, as instructed.
• has glossed over the major problems encountered in implementing new national systems and the adverse impacts on Branches and Groups
• potentially intends to abandon much of our future campaigning activity
• has not arrested the continuing and accelerating decline in CSPA membership.
• has failed to revisit the potential advantages of a single organisation for retired civil servants.
It instructs the EC urgently and seriously to revisit the terms of Motion A18 and to act accordingly.
3. Photo ID at Elections
This AGM notes with concern that the new Photo ID requirements at elections, imposed by the Government in the face of considerable opposition, and which were recently candidly described by a former Cabinet Minister as “gerrymandering”, resulted in 14,000 people, including older and vulnerable people, being denied their right to vote at the recent local elections. It is also estimated that up to 400,000 people may have decided not to vote because of the new requirements.
The Electoral Commission has expressed concern about some of the emerging evidence and is working on a broader report, currently scheduled to be published in September 2023. The Association of Electoral Administrators has said that unsystematic changes to the UK electoral systems raise the risk of major problems at the next General Election.
This AGM directs the Executive Council to study the forthcoming Electoral Commission report with interest and to join with like-minded organisations in calling for future elections in the UK to be easily accessible to every eligible person.
Final Date for your 2023 Diary
Our final Group meeting in 2023 will be held at 2.00pm on Monday 11 December 2023 at Quaker Meeting House, Worcester, WR1 1UG. A further reminder will appear in the next newsletter. At the meeting, we will report back from the National AGM and also fix the dates for our 2024 meetings.
The Charity for Civil Servants (CfCS)
CfCS, formerly call the Civil Service Benevolent Fund, helps current, former and retired civil servants with whatever problems they may have. Its vision is of a lifelong civil service community of people offering effective support for each other when life takes a turn for the worse. The support includes financial assistance and a range of services, including help with bereavement, residential care, relationships, caring, dementia, long-term illness, and other emergencies. CfCS works with specialist organisations – including Macmillan, Dementia UK and Relate – and signposts other appropriate sources of helpful advice.
Visit the CfCS website www.foryoubyyou.org.uk or call its free confidential helpline on 0800 056 2424. CfCS is not a membership organization, so all serving, former, and retired civil servants are eligible to ask for its help.
National Pensioners Convention (NPC)
CSPA is affiliated to the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), the largest pensioners organisation in the UK. It campaigns for and promotes the welfare and interests of all pensioners, as a way of securing dignity, respect and financial security in retirement. NPC organises rallies, and lobbies of MPs and makes submissions to Government on policies affecting older people. Its Biennial Delegate Conference, which last met in March 2022, elects the NPC national officers and determines its policies for the coming 2 years. NPC also stages an annual 2-day “Pensioners Convention” every June in Blackpool.
NPC’s monthly bulletin “Campaign” is sent by the Group Secretary to the 140 members of our email group. Visit the NPC website at https://www.npcuk.org to receive it. The latest edition of Campaign covers the recent Annual Convention in Blackpool; Station ticket offices: unpaid carers; and much more.
West Mercia Group is affiliated to and supports NPC’s regional organisation, the West Midlands Pensioners Convention (WMPC). We send delegates to its monthly meetings in Birmingham. WMPC’s informative website is at https://wmpc.org.uk and it produces a quarterly newsletter. Its Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/7125023377569919.
CSPA Membership Offers and Services
The main CSPA membership offers and services are:
- Financial planning advice by Lighthouse (08000 85 85 90)
- Motor Source is a competitive car purchase and leasing service
- MyCarNeedsA gives access to over 4000 vetted garages.
- CSIS Home and Motor Insurance and the new CSIS Travel Insurance.
- Prepaid My Cashback cards provide between 3% and 15% cashback discounts on purchases from M&S, Tesco, Sainsburys, Boots, Argos, B&Q, Homebase and Curry’s/PC World.
- Audiology and hearing services by Hearing Star (0800 0323 771).
- Lyons Davidson Solicitors (01752 300 584) for free legal advice.
- Discounted Lost Luggage Protection scheme (TRACE ME Smart ID).
- BC Technologies provide free computer support (01369 706656).
Some of the offers are accessed online, but many can still be accessed by phone. Contact the Group Secretary if you need help in accessing any of the offers and services, which can be found in the members’ area of the national website at https://www.cspa.co.uk and in “The Pensioner” magazine.
CSPA – Protecting What You’ve Earned – Use It Or Lose it
West Mercia Group brings together over 800 local CSPA members, with a view to stimulating interest and support for CSPA’s aims. We meet quarterly in various locations, issue a quarterly Newsletter, communicate additionally through our 140-strong email group, and through occasional Zoom gatherings. We know that not everyone can attend meetings in our far-flung area. So, if there are local concerns, e.g. bus services, social care, health care, public services such as libraries and public toilets – please contact a Group Officer.
We rely on volunteers to keep us going locally. Without “new blood” our long-term future as a Group cannot be assured. So, if you’ve got a little bit of time and some interest in older person’s issues, we can put that to good use.
CSPA is a membership organisation. Please extol the virtues of CSPA membership to all your retired civil and public service colleagues. The discounted premium of our CSIS travel insurance may well save them more than the annual subscription to CSPA! Prospective members can download an application form at https://www.cspa.co.uk and Freepost it to CSPA HQ in Croydon, or call 020 8688 8418 for a membership pack. Or join online.
As ever, if you believe CSPA can do things differently/better, locally and/or nationally, please tell us.
