To: Secretaries of Constituent Organisations October 2017
Dear Colleagues,
Autumn seems to have well and truly arrived as I write this Campaigns Update, and I hope it finds you well.
PSPC CAMPAIGNS UPDATE- Number 66/2017
Public Service Pensioners Council General Election Campaign 2017
Now that the General Election is over and done with and the dust settled, it would be helpful to hear from you, if you or your members received any reply from MPs or candidates in response to emails, letters and/or the PSPC General Election Manifesto. I would be interested to see copies of responses received, please email them to me at
The document was also sent out to those involved with drafting the Election Manifestos of all the main political parties in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We received back encouraging replies from the Labour Party and the DUP.
Brexit Negotiations – protection of older people
The General Secretary has written to David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union to ensure that he is aware of the our concerns over possible impacts of Brexit on older people- a copy of the letter and response from the Department is enclosed with this update. The reply states that, subject to a reciprocal agreement with the EU, the intention of the Government is to continue to uprate the UK State Pensions of those living in EU countries.
Indexation of Pensions
The EC’s motion concerning the rate of inflation used to uprate public sector pensions was carried at the AGM. As an initial follow up, the General Secretary has written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to seek an explanation for the Government’s use of different measures of inflation. Some public service pensions are uprated by the Consumer Prices Index, but despite losing its designation as a National Statistic, the Retail Prices Index continues to be used elsewhere, e.g. on student loan repayments, rail fares and water rates. A copy of the letter and reply from the Chief Secretary is attached.
The EC will continue to keep a watching brief on the CPI (H) rates, which include an element of housing costs, now designated as a national statistic and leading measure of inflation.
In addition we will watch the development of the Household Inflation Index (HII) and consult constituent organisations again when there is clarity in its status.
State Pension Age – the Cridland Review
The Government recently announced that they would accept the recommendations of the Cridland Review of State Pension Age (SPA) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-age-independent-review-final-report.
This would mean that SPA would rise to 68 years between 2037 and 2039, seven years earlier than currently legislated for. Many public service pension schemes are linked to SPA and so members of constituent organisations schemes are likely to be affected in future. Under this timetable anyone born on or before 5 April 1970 will see no change to their state pension age.
The Government have stated that they will carry out a further review before legislating to bring forward the rise in SPA “to enable consideration of the latest life expectancy projections and to allow us to evaluate the current rises in SPA”
The Executive Committee is considering its response to this announcement and will report back in due course.
New Members
PSPC brings together the various organisations for retired public servants and the retired members’ sections of public sector unions, providing a united voice on issues of concern to government and the public.
We campaign alongside other organisations, including the National Pensioners' Convention and the TUC, to protect the interests of pensioners and protect public service pensions
Do you know of other organisations that might be interested in joining the Public Service Pensioners’ Council? I would be happy to talk to suitable groups representing those who receive a public sector pension, they can contact me by email at: or by telephone 020 8688 8418
Alternatively, information is available on our website: www.publicservicepensioners.org.uk
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss any items in this update.
Yours sincerely,
Lisa Ray
General Secretary
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