At the end of October most of you would have received your biannual newsletter Fair Play #17. We trust

you found it both interesting and useful in keeping you up-to-date with our activities which are designed to

achieve eventually UK pension annual indexing. This is of course our primary mission. We share many

have to remain patient, tenacious and dedicated, characteristics displayed by our many long-time members

and dedicated volunteer helpers.

British Pensioners [ICBP], of which BPIA is a founder member, has recently arrived home in Ottawa

following over 2 weeks spent mainly in London, where he had several meetings with Champollion, our

UK based PR team. There he and Champollion were working at developing a way of discovering how to

identify and generate potential support from within the UK using information we had achieved from our

Parliamentary petition, which was closed down in September. Many of our members too have since been

asked to complete a survey for ICBP, their names coming from the data collected from this previous

petition, and we hope those who have recently been asked have since responded to that request. More

questions may be forthcoming as this project develops.

While in the London area Tony Bockman met with BPiA’s Brian Leggett [Editor of BPiA’s Fair Play] who

has moved back to Kent. Brian will become involved in future UK activities together with Champollion to

help ICBP to promote our message throughout the UK. Tony also spent some useful time with a

Commonwealth Foundation executive who we met last October in Perth at CHOGM. He is guiding us to

achieve possible membership of an organisation which may enable us to attend the next CHOGM in

Colombo Sri Lanka in 2013. That is if the ICBP committee feel this would be a worthwhile initiative.

During October the Canadians have been working at setting up an official incorporated ICBP. Up to recent

has been felt; especially by the Canadians, that ICBP should be incorporated and have its own constitution

and directors. The incorporated ICBP has now been registered in Canada and soon its budget for 2013 will

be established, in consultation with the various ICBP members of which BPiA is one.

touched down in London to continue his efforts to promote our cause, primarily among Parliamentary

Pensions Committee and the Cabinet Policy Minister, Oliver Letwin. Lord Shipley offered John some

advice from his extensive Parliamentary experience and suggested we should probably become more

aggressive in our approach. A meeting was held with Greg McClymont the Shadow Minister for Work and

was discussed. John later met with Natascha Engel chair of the BBBC who indicated her support of our

cause. A review of her Parliamentary history shows she has had some useful experience in the Work and

Pensions area. Stephen Phillips a strong supporter of ours advised John that he believes the resistance to

Treasury mandarins disinclined to support policies, which require financial expenditure. The report is seen

by them as being not robust enough.

John also advised that he has made useful contacts with the British Legion. Moreover he met with Tim

Otty who represented us at the ECHR, for we are asking him for legal advice with regards to a submission

from pensioners in the UK who are prevented from joining their families overseas due to financial

constraints imposed by the UK Government by freezing their pensions if they leave the UK. We need to

search out some more to help in this regard, so if any member knows of someone in this category who we

can contact please let us know either their or your contact details.

As indicated in our last, August, activities report we did achieve some useful, albeit not totally correct

information, to be published in the 5 major News Ltd tabloids across most of Australia. Consequently there

found by clicking on this site above. The article featuring BPiA is at page 25 in the NSW/ACT edition and

features, so I am advised, in the Tasmania and WA editions. Moreover I refer in that article to some

Federal MP for Lyne NSW, has asked the PM what is being done about this frozen pension issue. For the

Continuing with our efforts to publicise our cause, two interviews have recently been conducted on

the UK and this approach complies with our strategy to achieve a wider audience, particularly in the UK to

promote our campaign.

Of interest too has been a recent motion debated in The Australian Parliament led by one of our staunch

supporters Amanda Rishworth from South Australia. She was supported by Luke Simpkins WA. Below is

the contribution made by the third contributor Janelle Saffin, MP for Page in Northern NSW,

which was subjected to an annual GMP adjustment from a component of his State pension. This adjustment

was being indexed even although his State pension was not. This was pointed out to DWP in Newcastle as

a possible error. DWP admitted this was the case, so they sent a corrected frozen GMP adjustment to the

service pension provider in Sussex. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, our member advised us that he had

received an adjustment to his pension of over £10,000. I am now investigating 2 other senior Service

members who have retired here in Australia to see if this kind of GMP adjustment may also have been

applied to their service pensions incorrectly. This is not the first instance on this kind of error we have

noticed. Perhaps there is a systemic problem in the DWP Newcastle, which, with sufficient evidence we

could possibly expose. So if there are any other members who receive a UK service or public service

pension for their employment in the UK in the period 1978-1997, please check your annual Service

pension and if you need help contact us on 1300 308 353.

I am just home from a visit to Perth to attend, with the welcome help from some of our members there, the

brochures and literature from our stall will soon feel inclined to ask our advice and join BPiA.

to hear, ASAP, from any member, who feels she/he could contribute to our organisation by volunteering to

offer their services to the small 7 member BPiA committee. This applies particularly from among our

younger members. We are especially looking for people with good skills and experience in Marketing,

Data Processing, Sales, Finance & Accounting or Media activities. It is best this invitation is confined to

people living within striking distance of Sydney, for we would require them to attend our 4-5 committee

meetings held each year.

relinquished the role of our Membership Officer, which has been re- allocated to Keith Bryars, so all

matters previously sent to Tony Jackson should be preferably sent to Keith Bryars please. Keith can be

Thank you;-

Hon Chairman; Woronora Heights, NSW 17th November 2012