22/02/12

Proposed Merger Between Sheffield and Rotherham Branches

At the Sheffield Branch AGM, to be held on 16th April 2012, a proposal will be discussed to merge the Sheffield and Rotherham Branches of NARF to form a combined branch.

Please use the 'Sheffield and Rotherham Proposed Merger' button on the navigation bar to view more detail regarding this merger.

22/02/12

Diamond Jubilee Medal Ribbons For Sale

P Chipchase, the Barnsley Branch Secretary, has variations of the enameled Diamond Jubilee Medal Ribbons for sale on behalf of the Firefighters Charity.

To view the full price list and ordering information pleas click >>here

09/02/12

Campaigning on Public Sector Pensions - January 2012 Update

Pensions Increase
It has been confirmed that public sector pensions will be increased by 5.2 per cent from April 2012 in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

The Public Sector Pensioners' Council General Secretary Andrew Morris states that If the link had been kept to the Retail Prices Index (RPI), however, the increase would have been 5.6 per cent.

A public sector worker retiring on 1 April 2009 with a £10,000 pension will have a pension from April 2011 of £10,846 with CPI-linked increases (3.1 per cent in 2010, 5.2 per cent in 2011). If the link to RPI had been preserved, the pension would be £11,046 – a gap of £200 this year, and a cumulative loss of £350 already. This loss will be compounded throughout retirement.

The PSPC estimates that a public sector worker retiring with a £10,000 pension will lose over £35,000 during the course of a 25 year retirement due to the switch from RPI to CPI.

RPI CPI legal challenge
The Judicial Review against the Government's decision to switch the basis of indexation for public sector pensions from RPI to CPI was heard on 2527 October 2011. The Judicial Review was taken out by Trades Unions and Pensioner Organisations including several PSPC constituents.

The judgement was delivered on 2 December and went in favour of the Government. The PSPC's understanding is an Appeal Court hearing will take place on 20-21 February.

E-petition on re-indexation of pensions to RPI
The e-petition referred to in my letter of 10th November successfully reached 100,000 signatures just before Christmas. Its organisers and supporters are very grateful to constituent organisations for the work done in reaching this goal. The e-petition is still open for further signatures and can be found at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535.

A Parliamentary debate is not unfortunately automatic and the next step is that an MP or MP's must approach the Backbench Business Committee to seek a debate on the e-petition. MP's are being sought for this task, but there could be complications in getting a debate stemming from the fact that the Judicial Review decision is being appealed. This may lead to a delay in getting a debate.

If a debate is scheduled around the e-petition we aim' to hold a Lobby of Parliament in association with other organisations, such as the National Pensioners' Convention and the Civil Service Pensioners' Alliance as was done last year. Our belief is that a debate led by the e‑petition around CPI/RPI will generate far more publicity than campaigning around the indexation order alone.

Lobbying MP's over public service pension indexation order
Regardless of whether a debate is held in connection with the e-petition, the PSPC believes that it would be useful for members of constituent organisations to lobby their MP's at a local level at around the time of the indexation order going through Parliament – usually mid-February to mid-March. The earlier that members contact their MP's the better.

Accordingly, I given a link below model letter that constituents can send to their MP's requesting a meeting. Other guidance material, including an MP briefing and feedback form will be placed on our website http://publicservicepensioners.org.uk and is also available from Anita Brown on 0207 380 4765 or pspc@nut.org.uk

It is very important that as many members as possible take some sort of action to continue to oppose CPI indexation.

ANDREW MORRIS
General Secretary

>> Constituents Lobbying Letter in pdf format
>> Constituents Lobbying Letter in Word format
>> Copy of original letter from Andrew Norris

05/01/12

SYFR Firefighters Charity Prize Draw -15th December 2011

The 1st prize-winner of the December Prize Draw was Wayne Dunn. To view all the winners please click on the link below:

>>December Prize Draw Winners

04/01/12

Links to NARF Placed on the SYFR Website

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have placed the following links on their website:

• Sheffield Retired Firefighters
• Barnsley Retired Firefighters
• National Association of Retired Firefighters

The SYFR Links page is located at: http://www.syfire.gov.uk/445.asp

Our thanks go to Alex Mills of SYFR for this work.

Alex has also suggested that If any of our members wished to stay in touch with the work of SYFR, they may also wish to sign up to the monthly email newsletter by emailing info@syfire.gov.uk

Coupled with this SYFR will try and give the links to the above websites a mentions on their Twitter (www.twitter.com/syfr ) and Facebook pages (www.facebook.com/southyorkshirefire) as well.