Hello from the HPPA team.

We would like to update you on our activity over the Summer and let you know our plans for the foreseeable future.

As I am sure you are all aware, HPE made their first discretionary Pension payment for pre-97 retirees in 13 years, although this was still well below the rate of inflation for the year.

Unfortunately, 2022 has been extremely difficult year for the economy, and for those of us on fixed incomes, with inflation, energy costs and interest rates increasing dramatically. The Trustee have highlighted the effect on pensioners in their submission to HPE and this was reinforced by our ‘Pensioners in Crisis’ paper that was sent to Marc Waters, the now former UK MD of HPE who has moved on to a new role. We had requested a meeting to discuss our ideas on mitigating the effects on members finances but were told to make those representation to the Trustee board.

Last month we had a useful face to face and wide-ranging discussion with the Trustee chair and two of his colleagues. We are assured that they have pressed the company hard yet again to make a further increase in discretionary payments. It is likely that a decision in principle has already been made so we will wait to see if it results in an increase. It was also reported that the company has recognised that there is an issue and the validity of our arguments. We will wait and see if it results in a positive result.

As the scheme matures, around half of members are now in receipt of a pension, the Trustee is beginning to focus on a ‘Journey Plan’ for the scheme. Our guess is that over the next few years discussions will be held with HPE to establish the feasibility of an insurance company ‘buy out’ of the plan assets.

In simple terms this involves the transfer of the scheme’s funds to a third party, who commits to meet the ongoing obligations for paying retiree pensions until the last of us or our pension dependants are no more. Although this has become a popular option as companies wish to rid themselves of the responsibility, it almost always requires a significant input of cash from a sponsoring company to ensure there are sufficient funds to meet the scheme’s liabilities. The downside for members however, is that insurers will wish to make a margin on this business and, unless provided for in any agreement, discretionary increases are rarely included in such arrangements also, the Trustee relinquishes its role as a guardian of pensioner interests! This is an issue that we will be taking a close watch on in future discussions with the Trustee.

It appears that the Trustee was unimpressed with Water’s reluctance to meet with us and felt uneasy being a buffer between HPPA and the Company. We shall be writing to the incoming MD, Matt Harris, a long-term HP employee requesting a meeting to reinforce our earlier messages and bring him up to speed with our plight. We will also stress the need for a more collaborative approach with the Trustee to work on novel solutions to the issues we have raised.

We are in the process of setting out our action plan for the remainder of this year and 2023.
Very shortly, we will be looking to enlist your help to lobby your local MP. We intend to restart engagement with our parliamentarians to introduce a code of practice for those who manage pension schemes and again request changes in the law that sanctions some form of index linking to discretionary pension benefits.

We have downloaded some of our recent submissions to the company and the Trustee which can be found here.

Finally, meetings and other expenses have depleted HPPA funds, so, any donations you can afford to help us continue our work will be very gratefully received. Donations can be made via the following options:

Bank Account:

Hewlett Packard Pension Association

Metro Bank 23-05-80

Account no 42810452

PayPal (If you have a Paypal Account):

Paypal Donation

Our best regards,

Alan Evans and the HPPA team