AGM/Mirror Pensioner latest

THE 16-page autumn issue of Mirror Pensioner will be zooming through members’ letterboxes later this week (*AMP members only) – see contents right.

But after we had gone to press, independent trustee chairman Joanna Matthews, who was expected to attend our 2016 annual meetings in London as well as Glasgow, notified AMP secretary Gerald Mowbray that a clash of engagements would prevent her from attending in London on October 25.

It had been expected that Joanna would give a presentation on the status of the possible merger of the Mirror “Old/Past Service” and “New” pension schemes, a report on which is featured on the front page of the current Mirror Pensioner.

It is hoped that the presentation at the London meeting will now be undertaken by Trinity Mirror’s deputy finance director Philip Brown, and company group pensions manager David Astley.

Joanna is expected to attend the Glasgow meeting on November 7.

*If you’re not an AMP member you will NOT receive a copy of Mirror Pensioner – it is distributed only to AMP members these days.

AMP members receive two newsletters every year – one in the spring and another in the autumn.

The spring newsletter has always been members only, but in the past, members of the relevant pension schemes who were not AMP members have received the bumper autumn newsletter courtesy of a printing and postage subsidy from the Company. We can no longer count on that financial support and so must limit all newsletter distribution to AMP members only.

If you are not a member of AMP but would like to join – and enjoy two newsletters a year plus other benefits – you can download a form on the Join Us page (see dropdown menu above).

If you join straight away, we’ll try and arrange for a copy of the autumn newsletter to be sent to you, hot off the press!
DON’T MISS OUT. JOIN NOW.

Memorial for Steve Turner

STEVE TURNER’S widow DEBORAH has organised a memorial service for him at St Bride’s Church (Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8AU) on Thursday, September 15 at 11.30am.

All Steve’s colleagues and friends are welcome.

There will be a gathering afterwards at The Punch Tavern (99 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1DE.)

Clarification needed

THE recent letter to all members of the Mirror Group Pension Scheme, MGN Pension Scheme and MGN Past Service Pension Scheme from Carol McNamara (Secretary to MGN Pension Trustees Ltd) caused some confusion among the AMP membership, and we are grateful for this clarification, in Carol’s absence on holiday, from Trustee Andrew Golden:

“The proposed amendment has come about as a result of the Aviva buy-in policy, when it was realised that the Schemes’ Rules and Pensions Office practice differed.

“Currently, when a member dies, the spouse’s pension is paid from the first of the month following the date of death. The Pensions Office does not reclaim the member’s pension for any part of the month.  Equally, when the spouse dies, no reclaim is made of the pension for the part month from the date of death.

“The Rules say that the spouse’s pension should be paid from the day after the death of the member, which in effect could mean up to double payment of the pension for the period from the date of death to the end of the month.  The Rules state that the pension for that part of the month after the spouse’s death should be reclaimed, but it has always been felt that was not the right way to deal with a delicate situation, as it affects a widow or widower so soon after the death of their spouse.

“It was felt the best solution was to amend the Rules so as to reflect the current custom and practice. As the letter confirms, the Actuary will be able to certify that benefits will be no less valuable after the amendment is made.”

PENSION ALERT

By AMP deputy chairman TOM BROWN (Photo: Daily Telegraph)

The prime purpose of the AMP is to act as watchdog – and that role has never been more urgent than now.

Our association was formed in the aftermath of Robert Maxwell’s pension funds rip-off, so we are naturally always wary. But developments in the wider world of pensions outside our own company schemes are now just as worrying.

The warnings from experts in recent weeks have been increasingly disturbing – “whichever way you analyse it, Government policy on pensions is in a right old royal mess” … “occupational pensions are at a crossroads” … “the pension deficit of UK companies has grown by £89bn in just one month, hitting a record level of £935bn” … “the defined-benefit funding crisis is one of the great problems of this age”.

Without being alarmist – the fast-changing pensions scene needs to be watched and we should all be prepared to speak out. And that is something YOU can all do.

UK company contributions to help reduce the ever-growing pension deficits – where the potential liabilities of the scheme are greater than the assets – have become a touchy subject.

Advisers PWC say: “Companies are under increasing pressure from regulators, unions, workers and the media to address the current funding gap. These deficits have been driven by a fall in equities and bond yield. We are living longer than expected and, while only an actuary would tell you that this is bad news, it is one of the reasons for a rise in the liabilities. Pensions Regulator policy is that organisations must clear these deficits as quickly as possible.”

Trinity Mirror’s recent half-yearly report said the pension deficit increased by £120.8 million to £426.0 million, driven by a fall in long-term interest rates. The TM board has agreed to contribute a minimum of £5 million as additional funding to the defined-benefit pension schemes but, as we reported earlier, those contributions still do not match the dividends the company has paid to shareholders.

Through our membership of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance, we are kept in touch with all the latest developments, plus OPA lobbying on issues such as the knock-on effects of the BHS and British Steel pension negotiations which could affect all of us.

In Parliament, a select committee has launched a new inquiry into the sustainability of thousands of defined-benefit schemes such as ours, including the Government proposal to utilise the normally lower Consumer Price Index to calculate State pension increases rather than the current Retail Price Index.

This is what the National Pensioners’ Convention (http://npcuk.org/) thinks about the current situation: “The triple lock on the basic state pension is guaranteed until 2020, but there is no doubt that the likes of Ros Altmann and others will be using their influence between now and then to alter things in the future. That means that the triple lock could become a vote winner or loser depending on which party is prepared to commit to keeping it.

“The Department for Work and Pensions has also released figures showing that the basic state pension would have actually been £1.15 a week higher in 2015 if the government had not changed the rules on annual increases. Up to 2010, the basic state pension had risen in line with the higher of the Retail Price Index (RPI) or 2.5%. In June of that year, the Chancellor announced that the RPI would be replaced by the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI).

“The result meant that the basic state pension would have been higher for four years of the Parliament under the old rules, rather than using the triple lock. By April 2015 it would have been £117.10 a week rather than £115.95 – £58.90 a year more. The total loss to someone receiving the full basic state pension over the five years of the triple lock has therefore been £163.80.

“The triple lock is not therefore the problem. The problem is our basic state pension remains one of the worst in the developed world.”

It is important that we all speak out as the AMP – but also as individuals. What can YOU do?

Watch the headlines. Get in touch with your MP and insist that he or she speaks up for YOUR concerns. (You can access your MP’s contact details at http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/)

Write to national and local newspapers to make sure pensioners’ worries are understood.

It’s YOUR pension – look after it.

 

 

Pergamon puzzle

WE’VE had enquiries from several members understandably concerned at the the sudden and unexplained appearance of “Pergamon” on their bank statements in relation to their July TM pension payment.

This is what Group Pensions Administration Manager Carol McNamara said on behalf of the company when AMP queried the Pergamon connection.

“We have had a few people enquire as to why the reference on their bank statements has changed. Last month we had an upgrade to our *BACS system and for some strange reason the reference reverted to a very old one we had when our department was linked to the Pergamon pension scheme.
We are in the process of getting this changed back and I can assure you that it is business as usual here!”

*BACS is the electronic transfer system commonly used by banks.

Trinity Mirror AGM

AMP committee members RAY WEAVER and BILL ROWNTREE attended the Trinity Mirror AGM in London on May 6, 2016 on behalf of the Association.

In the Q&A session towards the latter part of Trinity Mirror’s annual general meeting, AMP asked a number of questions relating to pensions, deficits, schemes merger and other matters, and we hope to publish a full report before our own AGM in October.

In the meeting proper, TM’s chief executive Simon Fox said that, for him, the highlights of 2015 were the acquisition of the 80 per cent of Local World that Trinity Mirror did not already own, and the various industry awards – including the Daily Record being named Newpaper of Year. He also pointed out that although overall revenue was down, the operating profit was up.

Chairman David Grigson said that TM planned to expand its digital business. He added that TM was moving quickly to settle phone-hacking claims and hoped costs would be within the £41 million provision already made – although he admitted this might increase because of new claims.

Much of the Q&A session was taken up with the closure (the following day) of new national daily New Day after eight weeks. It is thought 12 journalists will be made redundant. Neither David Grigson nor Simon Fox were willing to tell shareholders the scale of the losses this venture had incurred, claiming the information was “commercially sensitive”.

David Grigson was asked on a point of order whether these figures would be included as a separate item in the accounts presented in the company’s 2016 annual report. He replied that TM does not give profit or loss figures for individual titles, rejecting an accusation of secrecy.

Tony Patey joins committee

Former Mirror City desk man TONY PATEY  is the latest recruit to the AMP committee. He said: “It would be an honour if I could help my past colleagues in any way.”

Tony started in journalism as a rookie reporter on the Hertfordshire Mercury, and later had stints with East London News Agency and on the Bucks Herald.

He joined the Romford Times in 1967 and transferred to its sister-paper, the Stratford Express, as chief reporter at Barking and Dagenham. Al Shillum was his news editor, and among his mates were current AMP chairman Jill Palmer, and his wife-to-be Ann.

He later became news editor of Retail Chemist weekly in IPC Fleet Street. A scoop about a Swiss drugs company coincided with a vacancy on the Daily/Sunday Mirror City desk under Bob Head. Bob liked what Tony wrote, interviewed him in a London Wall wine bar and took him on. At 25 he might have been the youngest reporter on the staff.

In 1987 Tony left the Mirror and trained as a teacher at Cambridge University. He taught and lectured, then a chance call to a Fleet Street mate led to a spell as economic correspondent on The European from 1993 until it closed in 1997.

Tony, now 68, later worked at an international college where he was NASUWT FoC and Cambridge area rep, then he became industrial reporter for the Morning Star. Since retiring in 2013 he has taken certificates in TEFL, acting – and Open University nuclear physics.

Coming soon…

COMING soon through your letterbox…
Keep an eye out for the full colour, 8-page AMP spring newsletter in the next week or so, exclusive to members only.

Are you getting yours?

DID YOU see this AMP magazine last autumn?

If you were expecting to receive your Mirror Pensioner newsletter in autumn 2015 but didn’t, you’re almost certainly not a member of AMP.

Last autumn’s newsletter – a bumper 16-pages – was distributed only to members.

Likewise, our spring 2016 newsletter, due out in the next couple of weeks, will be dispatched only to AMP members.

It contains dividends and deficits reports, comment on schemes’ merger, a column by our new chairman Jill Palmer, an introduction to two new committee members, Olsen cruise offer, and much, much more.

So if you want to keep up to date and stay in touch with the Mirror Group family, you MUST join AMP.

There’s a form you can download on the Join Us page, or, if you have a question or a query, you can use the Contact Us form for a direct connection to AMP HQ.