Annual General Meeting and Reunion 2015
The Association held its 29th Reunion at the Hellidon Lakes Hotel, Daventry over the weekend 9th-12th October with 75 members and guests attending including our Patron Jack Aspinall QPM, President Alfred Hitchcock QPM, CCMDP and Eamon Keating, DPF National Chairman. Special thanks were recorded to the Force and DPF for their assistance kindly afforded to ROA during the year.
There was good attendance at the AGM with the well established format being adopted. Following opening remarks by the Chairman apologies were duly noted and Conference observed a period of silence as a mark of respect for those members, family and friends who had sadly passed away during the year.
Members received reports on the work of the association undertaken throughout the course of the year including news on the continued success of the partnership with Cottages4You that gives discount to members & families. Reporting on his first full year in charge of ROA finances, Treasurer Eric Fautley gave a full account of our financial position as at 31st March 2015 which for the year showed an income of £2577 against expenditure of £3406 with cash at bank and in hand of £26563.
Members also approved a proposal to donate £100 towards the memorial fund set up for the family of David Phillips, a constable from Merseyside Police who had been killed while on duty on 5th October.
Following the retirement of Inspector Angela Harney note was taken of the appointment of a new Force Liaison Officer, Supt Sandy Stewart. Owing to a prior commitment Supt Stewart was unfortunately unable to be present this year but looked forward to working with ROA in the future. Chairman Dave Rogers on behalf of ROA thanked Angela for her dedication and commitment over many years in looking after the interests of the organisation. He was pleased to report that Angela had since her retirement joined the ROA. During the evening Gala Dinner David presented both Angela and her husband Ron each with a small token of appreciation for work done in support of the ROA.
The Secretary gave an update on some of the matters that he had dealt with during the year and a copy of what he said is reproduced below:
Good Morning Everyone & Very warm welcome to the Hellidon Lakes Hotel for our Reunion and Agm.
I am pleased to report that the ROA continues to thrive and attract new members and it’s good to see that some new members are with us today.
Once more I can report that apart from dealing with a few routine enquiries from members during the year things have been generally quiet.
One issue that I touched upon last year – the change of civil service pension provider from Capita to MYCSP – did cause huge problems for many CS pensioners including a few ROA members. There was a deluge of complaints and it soon became clear that MYCSP had underestimated the high number of enquiries and after much criticism from all quarters including the media they had to hire and train 250 more staff in order to cope.
Nearly 12 months on things appear to have settled down and the system seems to be working well. They do have a good website that is easily accessible with up to date information on CS Pensions.
We have a predictable pattern where the Committee meet in between Conference to deal with the routine business – twice at Wethersfield and once in London – and we are most grateful to the Force and Thompsons Solicitors for the facilities provided.
However, for some time it has been proving more and more difficult to travel to Wethersfield and we have decided to hold future meetings in Central London. It is much easier to access and we are extremely grateful Thompsons for providing us, at no cost, with the use of meeting facilities.
As you know our main means of communication is by way of the Newsletter and the website which is accessed via the DPF website. We endeavour to keep the website up to date with important news and I’m grateful for the assistance we get from the DPF in this regard.
Our continued affiliation to CSPA and PSPC is extremely useful as both organisations are in the forefront of many campaigns to help improve the lives of civil service pensioners and pensioners generally. This year saw a slight change in the PSPC Secretariat. Previously the Secretariat was provided by the NUT but they relinquished the role and it had now been taken over by the CSPA and NARPO.
Turning to Pensions, this April saw the civil service pension rise by 1.2%, this was based on the September 2014 CPI figure.
The CPI index for August this year stood at zero% – the September figure on which next year’s increase is based will be announced shortly. But it won’t amount to very much.
On the 8th of July the chancellor delivered his emergency summer budget setting out plans to make further savings and spending cuts over the next 5 years. They have been widely reported which I will not repeat here, however the Chancellor did announce that the government would continue to honour its commitment to uprate the State Pension by the TRIPLE LOCK mechanism which ensures it goes up by whichever is higher – INFLATION – WAGES or 2.5%.
That concludes my report. Thank you.
This year two longstanding committee members namely Bill Duncan and Les Gosling announced that they wished to step down from the Committee and would not be seeking re-election. The Chairman thanked Bill and Les for their commitment to ROA over many years and wished them well for the future.
When it came to elections The Chairman, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer were re-elected unopposed. Peter Parkes was elected to the position of Assistant Secretary. Three of the existing members had indicated a willingness to stand for re-election and were duly re-elected for a further term. One other nomination Susan Parkes was received and she was duly elected to serve for one year. A revised list is shown below.
Following the AGM both ROA President Alfred Hitchcock and DPF National Chairman Eamon Keating gave an overview of the many issues currently affecting the force and federation. They included future viability of the MDP and the many challenges ahead including talks of a possible merger with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, terms and conditions of service, pension age and possible outcomes following the governments’ comprehensive spending review and forthcoming strategic defence review.
Next year’s AGM/Reunion will be held at The Bridgewood Manor Hotel, Chatham from Friday 7th to Monday 10th October 2016 at an inclusive cost of £230.00 per person. Additional nights, Thursday and/or Monday will be £55.00 per person per night, booking forms to be issued in due course.
Annual General Meeting and Reunion 2015 Photo Gallery
Committee Information for Year 2015/16:
Chairman: Dave Rogers MBE
Secretary: David King
Vice Chair: Lionel Roslyn
Treasurer: Eric Fautley
Assistant Secretary: Peter Parkes
Committee: John Barber, Geoff Heal, Chris McComb and Susan Parkes
Force Liaison Officer: Supt Sandy Stewart
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From L to R: Geoff Heal, John Barber, Peter Parkes, Sue Parkes, Dave Rogers, Lionel Roslyn, Eric Fautley, Chris McComb, and David King
It should be noted that apart from the Newsletter that is normally circulated with ‘Talk Through’ the website is updated from time to time with additional news and information.
See www.dpf.org.uk/roa for details.
