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Report from John Thomas
Report on OPA Annual General Meeting held in London, 25 May 2006
In the absence of the Chairman, Brian Marks, the Meeting was chaired by Council Member, Peter Austin (ITV Pensioners Association). Roger Turner, Executive Officer sat with the Peter Austin.
Minutes of the previous AGM held on 9 May 2005 were accepted as correct and there were no significant matters arising.
The Chairman’s Report was discussed. In relation to the growing trend of takeover of UK companies by groups based overseas, Roger Turner confirmed that any occupational pension scheme established in the UK was subject to UK regulation including the provisions of the 2004 Pensions Act. A request was made for Council Meeting minutes to be made available to the membership – preferably by e-mail. An EGM will be called in October this year to amend OPA Rules on the subscription basis from member associations (current rule was creating difficulties for some associations with large memberships and voluntary funding arrangements). The Report drew attention to the highly effective OPA website managed by Gordon Williams. In conclusion, the Report was accepted and it was agreed that the Chairman should be congratulated on producing an excellent report.
Approval was given to the Treasurer’s report which showed total income of £2177 and total expenditure of £2363 with a healthy current funding total of £9757. It was noted that OPA represented some 150,000 pensioners of company schemes covering 2.3m people.
In his report, Roger Turner spoke about the Pensions White Paper (published at noon on the day of the Meeting) which reflected a consensus on state pensions developed within the All-Party Parliamentary group and which would be introduced in the next Session of Parliament. The state pension age would rise in line with life expectancy and the state pension would be linked to the rise in earnings (subject to affordability) at the earliest from 2012. A national occupational pension scheme would be established for those who were not members of a public or company pension scheme. Improvements would also be made in the compensation terms of the government financial assistance fund set up to help members of failed company schemes not covered by the PPF.
Ten members were nominated for the Council and unanimously approved by the Meeting.
Turning to the future work of the Association it was emphasised that there was a need to recruit pensioner associations from defined contribution occupational schemes since these were growing as defined benefit schemes declined. Regulations arising from the 2004 Act about member nominated trustees were awaited: trustees were responsible for arranging the selection of MNTs – not employers. The question of recognition of retirement associations was an ongoing problem although it was also noted that some trade unions were taking a greater interest in retired members. Roger Turner stressed the importance for associations to be registered under the Data Protection Act and to note that trustees are required to consult with individual pensioners or association of pensioners (the latter, of course, being more practicable).
John Thomas
30th May 2006
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