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Railway
Pensions Commission
The RPC's Final Report was published
in November 2008. The dedicated website set up while the Commission was in
session is no longer available, but you will find detailed information about the
final report by visiting the websites of the Rail Trade Unions (TSSA, RMT,
ASLEF), including a downloadable version of the Final
Report. (Note: This is a 78-page document, but there is a five page
Executive Summary at the beginning.)
Click here
to skip to the Downloads Section, where you will find monthly NPC Campaign Bulletins
and other BTPF Resources
The BTPF is affiliated to the
National Pensioners' Convention and sends delegates to their meetings and
committees. Peter Rayner, our former Chairman, provides regular summaries
of NPC activities. Click here
to go to the downloads section (below), where you will find recent NPC Campaign
Bulletins and also Discussion Papers presented by the NPC to government bodies
and political leaders.
For
more detailed information about the National Pensioners' Convention's
campaigns
on behalf of all pensioners, click here
to visit their website.
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Peter Rayner
For information on the
Campaigns write to NPC at
19-23 Ironmonger Row
London EC1V 3QN
or email admin@npcuk.org. |
NPC
Conference News from Peter Rayner
Click here
to download a copy of this article in full
Peter Rayner and Archie Birt
attended the biennial NPC Conference in Nottingham in June 2007 and Peter
has now been elected a Vice President of the NPC. Here is a summary
of the main debates and the motions adopted.
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Administration
matters: it was decided not to move to an annual
Conference, mainly on grounds of cost, as the NPC has only three
full-time staff and the 'admin' involved in running a conference every
year would be too great. |
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Representation:
the gender issue was debated. Rather than use positive
discrimination to involve more women in committees and councils,
conference decided to stay with the "on merit" system in
place now. It was argued that as more women who have enjoyed
equal status with men enter retirement, the balance will eventually
shift. However, this view was fiercely opposed by those who felt
that women suffer most from inequalities in pension provision,
especially if they have taken time out of work to raise a
family. Pension credit was described as a 30-page form with 70
questions, which many older people could not fill in without
assistance - the result is that many who could benefit do not apply. |
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Post
Office closures: a motion was passed condemning
Post Office closures. |
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Public
Toilet provision and safety: There was a call for better
provision of public toilets and for greater safety through improved
staffing levels on railway stations and in high streets and shopping
precincts. |
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Private
Care Homes: an emergency motion was carried unanimously,
criticising the recent Appeal Court judgement on Private Care Homes
and their status. |
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Discussion
papers: a number of papers were circulated regarding
government statistics on pensions, Heath and Carer issues. These
will be presented to the next General Purposes Committee. |
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NPC
National Council: the sad passing of Barry Medlock
resulted in a vacancy on the National Council, which Sam Reed has
agreed to fill. Our three representatives are Peter Rayner, Bill
Baxendale and Sam Reed, with Stan Robinson as
"reserve". As Peter will attend in his own right as a
Vice President, this may result in a further National Council vacancy
- in this case Archie Birt is willing to fill this vacancy, but the
situation needs to be clarified first. |
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So
why should BTPF be involved with the NPC?
Our initial
involvement was because many of our members got more from the State
Pension than from our fund. (Over 60% of Railway pensioners get more from
the State than our fund). We felt we could influence government better to
restore the link with earnings. NPC, like BTPF, is political in that it
wishes to influence government, but it is not Party Political.
I am often asked
what we get from being affiliated to NPC since, for many of us, our
pensions are considered secure and reasonable even in these difficult
times. Also our rail travel has been less threatened than many of us
feared at the onset of privatisation. So why bother?
NPC now have a
number of working parties responding to the Executive and arising from the
work they do it is possible to point to some of the issues that affect
older people today.
BTPF
and NPC "Common Ground"
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Click here
to download Peter's recent paper on NPC Campaigns and their relevance
to BTPF members. |
To
find out more about the NPC, click here
to go to their website - click here to download a copy of the NPC's
alternative White Paper for Pensioners.
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Note: You will find
other items to download within the relevant news item or article. I am in
the process of re-organising downloadable resources to make them easier to
find. Please bear with me while I have a tidy up! (Errrrr.....when
I get around to it!)
Website
Administrator |
BTPF Resources
 | BTPF Recruitment Poster - this was devised at
the request of one of our Branches for a stand at an Open Day, but it would
be equally useful for Staff Noticeboards, if you can persuade a former
colleague to display a copy. There
are two versions - one is a single sheet; the other has the text spread
across two sheets. Page Size is set to the default A4, but if you
have access to a printer that will take A3 paper, either of these documents
could be printed larger: you will need to amend the Page Setup. The
two-sheet version can be glued or 'sellotaped' together to make a large
poster if required. The files (MS Word 2003 format) can be copied to
disk and taken to a printer, but be warned - the price is likely to be
fairly high!
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Single
sheet version - click here
to download |
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Two sheet
version - click here
to download |
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 | BTPF Constitution - a new version
of our Constitution and Standing Orders was approved at the AGM of 17
March 2009. Click here
to download your copy. |
NPC News and Campaign Bulletins
Here are some recent NPC News and
Campaign items for you to download:
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NEW
- "Putting the Record Straight on Concessionary Travel" -
click here
to download a copy of Peter Rayner's Discussion Paper, presented on behalf
of the NPC Transport Working Party in November, 2009. |
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NEW
- NPC Campaign Bulletin No. 38 (Mar 2010) - click
here
to download a copy |
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NPC Campaign Bulletin No.
37 (Feb 2010) - click here
to download a copy |
 | NPC Submission to the Dept. for Work & Pensions Select Committee
- click here
to download a copy of the NPC's Submission on "Tackling Pensioner
Poverty" (March, 2009) |
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AGE
(European Older People's Platform) Conference, Nuremberg, June 2008:
Click here
to download a paper presented by Peter Rayner, representing the
National Pensioners' Convention. The subject is
older people's access to Information & Communication Technology
and its effect on their lives. |
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Prof.
Walker's address to the NPC - click here
for an account of Professor Walker's talk to the NPC Council on 27 June 2006 |
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Our Vice
President, Peter Rayner, is also a regular contributor to Railwatch,
the quarterly journal of Railfuture
- for those of you still interested in the
railway and its future this is the campaigning arm of the Railway Development
Society, an independent
organisation committed to a better passenger and freight rail network.
Click here
to view Railwatch or here
to visit the Railfuture website. NEW
- To
download a copy of a recent article by Peter on the future of rail routes,
presented to the Railfuture Summer Conference 2008, click here. |
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Up-to-date news
of travel facilities and current special offers for active and retired Rail
Staff are always available on ATOC's website - click here
for details. |
 | Getting
to the National Memorial Arboretum - Arriva
have announced the start of a new bus service, serving the National Memorial
Arboretum. |
The 112 service
has been reintroduced from Birmingham
to Burton upon Trent, calling at Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield. The service
will call additionally at the National Memorial Arboretum. The service
currently runs hourly and starts and terminates at Burton upon Trent Railway
station. On Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, the 7E service
calls at the Arboretum. Click
here
for Arriva "Townlinx", where you can download maps and timetables for this route
(Route 112 and Route 7). This is provided for your guidance only - please check bus
times before you set off.
Click here
for full details of the National Memoral Arboretum and how to plan your visit.
 | Travel
Facilities, Pensions Management, has changed its name - it is now known as rpmi.
The address remains as before, but the email address is changing to travel@rpmi.co.uk.
(The old email address will forward messages to the new address in the
interim.) |
 | Oyster
Card with Privs - did you know you can now get an Oyster Card for travel on
London's buses, tubes and local train services including priv. rates for the rail
element (tube and train)? This offers a substantial saving on tube
fares, as your priv. is based on the Oyster rate (currently £1.50) rather
than the prevailing cash rate, which rose to £4 in January 2007.
Don't forget you will also benefit from the lower Oyster rate on
buses.
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New
applications: You can download an application form from ATOC's
website (make sure you download the
Retired Staff version - form ref. 5002). When you have filled in the form, send it to Travel
Section, rpmi, Darlington, for authorisation. You must then take your
completed and authorised form to an LU Booking Office, together with your
(Retired) Staff Travel Card. Note that to get priv. fares on Oyster
you MUST use the special application form - the normal form supplied by LU
does not cater for privs. LU Enquiry Counters do not process
applications for priv. Oyster cards - this is only done at LU Booking
Offices. |
 | Renewals:
Once you have obtained a priv. Oyster Card, you must take your (Retired)
Staff Travel Card to an LU Booking Office every year (when you receive
your new one from Darlington) to enable LU staff to register your new
card on the system. There is no need to complete another application
form. (If you fail to do this the full public Oyster fare will be
deducted from 01 July each year.) |
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 | International Privilege Tickets
and Reservations - arrangement to purchase these have changed (as of October 2006) - go to ATOC's
website for full details of the new postal address, phone numbers and email
address for IPTIS at Deutsche Bahn UK Booking Centre. You can also
download the new version of the IPTIS booking form. |
 | Eurostar
bookings - there is a new outlet for Eurostar bookings - Ashford Contact Centre,
tel:
08457 660421 beyond.eurostar@eurostar.co.uk.
Business hours 09.00 - 17.00 Monday to Friday. This is available for
Eurostar only (i.e. London / Paris / Marne-la-Vallée / Avignon / Ski
trains) and payment is accepted only by credit card. When making a
booking please ensure you quote both your International Reduced Rate Card
and Staff Travel Card numbers. |
 | Italian Railways (FS) have reinstated international free passes for
retired staff and their dependents, subject to a minimum of 11 years
service. Check ATOC's
website for full details of this very welcome news. |
 | Transport Direct
- click here
to use this comprehensive travel website, which was launched in September 2004 - there is a
feedback form on the website so that you can give your comments or suggest
improvements. It will work out journeys by road, rail or bus and
provides route maps for car journeys. |
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 | Conference
Paper - Our Chairman, Peter Rayner, has presented a briefing
paper on concessionary transport for older people to the Department of
Transport - click here
to download. |
 | A seat was installed and dedicated
near to the tree planted by BTPF at the National
Memorial Arboretum in October 2004. From 27 April 2008 an hourly Arriva bus service calls at the
Arboretum - click here
for further details.
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To date, around 50,000 young
trees have been planted to mark the 20th Century and the people who
lived, worked and died during that period. The trees represent the
armed services, the Merchant Navy, many civilian organisations and even
ordinary families, but up to now there has been no memorial to railwaymen and
women. |

Click on image to enlarge. |
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The NMA is at Alrewas in East
Staffordshire and is the nation's living tribute to the people of the
20th Century and a gift in their memory for present and future
generations to reflect upon and enjoy - it was inspired by a visit to
the Arlington Cemetery in Washington,
USA
In April 2004 the Anglia
Branch dedicated their own tree to commemorate the work and lives of railwaymen and
women in the region. Geoff Humphreys has kindly supplied the
picture (above) of the two memorial plaques. The inscriptions
read: "Planted
for British Transport Pensioners Federation - Anglia
In memory of all those who were employed by BRITISH RAIL and / or
SHIPPING and lived in EAST ANGLIA" "BTPF
British Transport Pensioners Federation
Planted in memory of all those who were employed by the Railway
Industry" |
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 | National Archive of
Railway Oral History - this is a project, funded by a Lottery
grant, to compile an oral history of the railway over the last fifty years
by collecting the reminiscences of railwaymen and women. Click here
to visit the NRM website. |
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page
The BTPF website was launched in July
2002, and many Branches now provide regular updates - we have been amazed by the
variety of activities you get up to and by all the hard work that goes into
organising rambles, holidays, day trips and lunches. When we first
started, many pensioners thought that the Internet was not for them, however
most Branches have a growing number of members who use the World Wide Web
regularly - if you don't have your own computer at home, why not try your local
library?
We have been contacted by railway pensioners all
over the world, and have even been contacted by a University Medical Department,
looking for a group of older people in good health for help with their research
- they found us via the web, as did a theatrical group performing Olde
Tyme Music Hall in the New Forest!
Our website is a good way of showing prospective members what
we offer, both as a campaigning organisation and as a social network. As
long as each Branch sends details of forthcoming meetings, outings and other activities we will list them in the Diary; then 'surfers' who may wish to join will be
able to see what you are doing.
Don't forget to look at our Links
page for other websites and organisations that are of interest to pensioners and
railway folk.
A message
from our Editor
Many thanks to all contributors from the Councils and Branches.
Regular updates enable us to build up interesting and informative content that we
hope will keep members informed about what is going on and attract potential new members.
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The website is what you make it - this is the
kind of material we are looking for:
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"dates for your diary" - meetings, outings, social events |
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reports of interesting things you have done or are about to do |
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regular updates, so that the content does not
stagnate or become out-of-date |
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You can send in your contributions on paper, by email, on a
floppy disk, by pigeon post.... it doesn't matter as long as we get news of your
activities. Photos are also welcome (.jpeg format preferred). If you
have an item for inclusion on the website or need some advice on what to supply,
please click here
to contact the editor.
Recent changes
Time for another change of traction on our Home Page - this
time we are using a photograph taken on the Nene Valley Railway by retired
driver, Len Creak. (We will return to Alan Cheek's splendid pictures at a
future date; his pictures come from Rail
Images UK, and Alan has given permission to use photographs from his extensive
collection).
Nice photos are always welcome (jpeg format is best), so that we can keep ringing the
changes, so please send them in!
Be a nosy neighbour
Don't just look at your
Branch's page - use our website to see what other Branches are getting up
to. This might give you ideas for activities in your 'home' Branch.
Some neighbouring Branches have joined forces for trips and other activities,
giving even more opportunities to meet people and keep in touch.
If you want to know more, please click here
to contact the editor.
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