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CHAIRMAN'S REPORT FOR 2007-08

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1. AGM 2007

The twentieth Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 26 April 2007 at Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road . As is now customary, the meeting was a non-ticketed event. Almost 100 members of the Association were present. The minutes of the meeting have been sent to all members, and the rules require that they should be approved at this year's AGM on Tuesday 22 April 2008.

1. The Committee

The committee was re-elected en bloc at the 2007 AGM. Tom Rivers had indicated, before and during that meeting, that he wished to stand down as Chairman. After a hiatus during the summer, Martin Cox took over as Chairman in October 2007. The committee works in a collegiate way, but the main responsibilities have been as follows:

Chairman Martin Cox

Treasurer Alan Bilyard

Membership secretary and web site Nick Whines

Minutes secretary Hugh Sheppard

Regional Meetings David Allen

OPA Liaison Tom Rivers

Newsletter Brenda Horsfield

David Allen,

Anne Hanford

In addition, Nicholas Moss joined the committee in the autumn of 2007, having attended several meetings as an observer. His contribution is already invaluable.

Any member of the Association may attend the regular meetings of the committee as an observer. Meetings are held in central London on the second Tuesday of the month. Just contact the Chairman or the Membership Secretary in advance, and you will be made welcome.

1. Regional Meetings

Our monthly committee meetings and the AGM are all held in London . That is why we attach high importance to the regional meetings which take place in the autumn. In 2006 we were in Guildford, Bristol and Birmingham The 2007 venues were Manchester , Cardiff and Brighton .

Later in 2008, we shall certainly want to return to Scotland .

We always find that these meetings provide lively debate and discussion. There was a full report on the 2007 meetings in the recent Newsletter, with the health of the scheme, the future of the Association and the levelling option among the most prominent topics. Please let us know if you have strong views on where we should fly the flag and how we can maximise the attendance. Thanks to Nick Whines' data base, we are getting better at targeting members who might come to a meeting, but there is always room for improvement.

1. Pensioner Liaison Meeting

As I reported in the Newsletter, this meeting took place on 4 Oct 2007 in Broadcasting House. It was better attended than recent PLMs at White City , and the mood music from the platform speakers was upbeat.

Geoff Jones, the pensioner-elected trustee, emphasised that the scheme is in good health and that BBC pensions “are as secure as they have ever been”. He was concerned, as we are, about the greatly increased work load for trustees. They face an avalanche of documents and directives from government and from quangos. The need for trustees to be highly trained and professional means that the job makes heavy inroads into their time. This means, incidentally, that Geoff is unable to attend our monthly meetings as often as we would like. A pity, because his insights into the work of the trustees are very valuable to the committee. It amounts to yet another reason for having a second pensioner-elected trustee.

Jan Killick, Head of Pensions, gave the PLM some statistics which are worth repeating. The scheme is worth about £8 billion. 30% of BBC pensioners get £5,000 or less. Another 20% are in the range of £5000-10,000. We are keen to find out, through the forthcoming BBC PA questionnaire why so many BBC pensions are so low.

Jan also mentioned two other major events which are in the pipeline. One is the long-awaited actuarial valuation which will provide an authoritative statement about the strength of the scheme. The other is the sale of BBC Resources, which has about 1,000 staff in the scheme. They face an uncertain future.

1. Pension increase

As members may already know, the cost of living increase payable in April 2008 will be 4.0%, in line with the rise in the Retail Price Index. There is, however, persuasive evidence that the official figures under-estimate the increase in the cost of living for pensioners. The burden is particularly heavy for older pensioners, aged 75 and over, who have to spend a higher proportion of their incomes on necessities like gas, electricity and food. A cursory glance at the headlines shows that the prices of these items are rising fast.

We think there is a case for a flat-rate discretionary payment to older pensioners in recognition of their particular problems. It would be a bit like the winter fuel allowance. It would be unproductive to press this point if the finances of the scheme are delicately balanced, but the issue will re-surface if the valuation shows that the scheme is doing well.

6. Meetings with management

After an interval of many months we had a useful meeting on 7 December with Steve Kelly, the BBC Director of People; Jan Killick, Head of Pensions; and Sandra Phillips, Scheme Secretary. It was agreed that future meetings should be regular rather than sporadic. There will be one at the beginning of May, and another in the middle of November.

The December agenda included the intranet, a second pensioner-elected trustee, a BBC PA presence at leaving conferences, and the levelling option. Please let us know, at or before the AGM, if there are items which you think should be discussed at future meetings.

7. OPA membership

We continue to support the Occupational Pensioners' Alliance , an umbrella organisation for many of the country's leading occupational pension schemes. OPA lobbies on behalf of occupational pensioners, scrutinising legislation and examining pensions policy as it develops. The OPA's affiliates, including BBC PA, do not have the capacity to do this kind of work on their own.

8. BBCPA Anniversary

The Association reaches its twentieth birthday in 2008. We plan to mark the occasion in two ways. First, we want to get some practical feedback from our members by distributing a short, user-friendly questionnaire. At committee meetings we often wonder what our members think about a certain issue. The questionnaire will make us better informed and better able to represent the membership. Secondly, we are planning a BBCPA Conference in the autumn. It will deal with pensions, retirement and the BBC, and we expect to attract a wide range of interesting contributors. The questionnaire and the Conference will both be discussed in more detail at the AGM.

MARTIN COX

BBCPA Chairman

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT FOR 2007 

10. Membership and subscriptions

Membership has slipped below 3000 over the last year. We have recruited approximately 60 new members as against 88 last year. Cardiff now provides more information about those who have died than previously. As a result it is possible to identify the majority of those who have died more accurately which previously was not the case. A consequence of this is that we are recruiting fewer honorary life members i.e. the spouses or partners of members. A method of identifying this group needs to be developed. Approximately 100 members failed to renew their subscriptions and were removed from the database although happily some have now been reinstated . We have lost contact with a number of members who have moved without providing a new address. The check letter system introduced last year is working well and the use of the payment slip makes the administration of subscriptions much easier. Members are encouraged to use the slip when paying by cheque.

11. Recruitment

New members are recruited through the advert in Prospero, via the web site, through various ex-staff groups, at BBCPA meetings and via individual contact. A stronger presence in Prospero is important in encouraging new members to sign up. The key issue of how to contact members of staff at the time they start taking their pension has yet to be resolved although the matter has once again been raised with BBC Management. It is hoped that the results of the 20 th Anniversary Survey will help publicise the Association and draw in new members.

12. Web site

The BBCPA web site at www.bbcpa.org.uk has been redesigned and is now easier to navigate. It remains the case that keeping a web site up to date is time consuming. The Association would welcome support in maintaining and developing the web site.

The number of members with email addresses continues to increase but is still a relatively small proportion of the total membership. Later in the year it is hoped to begin communicating with members electronically.

13. Newsletter

This reached members just before Christmas and feedback was very appreciative. Complimentary copies were sent to the Pension Fund Trustees, BBC Trustees, BBC Management etc. Contributions to the Newsletter should reach the Association by the beginning of November 2008.

14. Offers to members

Discounts were offered to members buying digital radios from Roberts Radios. This scheme has worked well with members expressing pleasure at the service received and satisfaction with their new radios. BBC Magazines has also offered members discounts on a wide range of titles which despite some teething problems has been appreciated.

15. Levelling option

This topic has again dominated letters to the Association. For those who retired early in the 1990s the scheme has not worked well. Members have complained that the cost of smoothing their retirement income has been disproportionately high. Various factors have contributed to this situation: low interest rates; low inflation and the decline in the relative value of the state pension. The Association has suggested that members be allowed to buy themselves out of the scheme at no cost to the Pension Fund. The Trustees of the Pension Fund have rejected this idea and have reasserted the principle that the decision to take the option was and is irrevocable. The Association will continue to raise this issue with the Trustees and will support individual members who wish to take this matter further.

NICHOLAS WHINES

BBCPA Membership Secretary

TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 2007

There is some good news and some bad. It always seems better to get the bad news over quickly so here goes. As predicted in the Newsletter a few months ago, we have incurred a deficit this year. So the good news? It was much less than expected.

To elaborate, our income from subscriptions has fallen back again and a glance at the accounts reveals that since 2006 it has reduced by about £1,200 to £17,767 but overall the total income, thanks to a better result on interest after switching our deposit account to a tracker account with Barclays, has dropped by only £400.

Expenditure, on the other hand, has increased by over £2,400 to £19,687 but this is not as bad as it could have been had not been for the cost of the Legal Helpline being waived again by the law firm who operate it on our behalf. This welcome gesture saved £700 because there were few enquiries from members requiring legal advice under the scheme. There were other savings too on costs of travel and sundries. However, the printing, stationery and postage costs continued to rise and ended up with a combined increase over last year of £2,500. Some of this was attributable to a slightly more costly but improved quality of mailings sent to each member (Newsletter etc.) and some to the postage of them.

Overall, therefore, the deficit is £603 compared to last year's surplus of £2,183 which given the climate of rising costs and the improved quality of mailings, is not a bad result.

This leads me on to say that if we are to maintain (and improve) the standard and quality of the three publications which are mailed to the membership each year as well as maintaining and covering the costs of regular committee meetings and other events it is obvious that we have to seek additional income by increasing the annual subscription rate and hopefully by recruiting additional members.

Both Nick Whines, Membership Secretary, and I have previously trailed this scenario and the committee will inform the Annual General Meeting of its plans to increase the annual subscription rate from £7 to £10, the joint membership rate from £10 to £15 and the Life membership rate (available to those members over the age of 80) from £35 to a once and for all flat fee of £50. These will become effective for existing members from 1 May 2009 and several reminders and new standing order forms will be sent to everyone after the subscriptions due in May this year have been collected. The new rates however, will be effective from 1 May 2008 for new members joining after this date.

It is regretted that this action has to be taken as we know that so many other costs in our lives are increasing as well. It has been put off with the hope that we would secure additional income from new members' subscriptions but unfortunately this has not materialized. It is hoped, however, that members will still feel that the Association delivers value to its members in keeping a watching brief in the way our pensions are administered and to be able to communicate with the membership matters of common interest.

Finally, having diverted from the financial results for 2007, I would like to express our thanks to Laurence Symonds who has once again audited the books and accounts for us.

ALAN BILYARD

BBCPA Honorary Treasurer

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