Introduction
It was so good to meet so many of you at the life members’ stand during NAHT's Annual Conference in Telford in April. Your positive comments regarding the work of the life member sector council (LMSC) and the value of these regular newsletters were really appreciated.
As a council, we also appreciate the increasing email correspondence from life members following the circulation of our newsletters. More than 7,000 of our life members will regularly open the newsletters and read the articles contained within. The stand in the exhibition hall at Annual Conference also gave us an opportunity to meet many serving members who are planning to retire in the coming months, and allowed us to make a strong case for continuing membership of NAHT after retirement by becoming a life member.
At the LMSC meeting in June, we discussed Annual Conference. National president Paul Gosling, who attended the meeting, suggested that LMSC might like to consider holding a fringe event at NAHT's 2024 Annual Conference. It could be a great opportunity to highlight and explain all the benefits of NAHT life membership to potential life members in a fun and engaging event. The LMSC was enthusiastic about this idea, and we will progress it further at our next council meeting in November. I would value your thoughts regarding the elements that might be worthwhile including at such an event.
At the same meeting in June, LMSC discussed the upcoming Constitution and Rules Conference in detail, with members keen to understand the plan and mechanisms going forward. The LMSC had pulled its motions from the AGM at Telford in 2023 under the understanding that issues that would have been tackled in our motions would be addressed at this rules event. As a council, we are deeply invested in the outcome. We sought assurances that any rules and constitutional changes made could still be voted on at the AGM in 2024, despite the rules conference being pushed back to January 2024. We were given these reassurances.
We are constantly looking at ways to increase the uptake of life membership, which has been increasing dramatically in recent years, but we believe could still be better. Life members are motivated to get involved at a local level with recruiting members nearing retirement to life membership. The membership services team is keen to continue to get the word out about life membership in as many ways as possible. At the June meeting, the legal team also discussed the importance of life membership for continued protection, as it has seen a marked rise in the number of retired members who they are representing. Once retired, you only have this security if you are a life member with continuity of membership after retirement.
The LMSC was very interested to hear about the regional reorganisation that NAHT is currently in the final stages of delivering. Council members shared issues that within certain regions, serving members were having trouble in receiving support quickly enough locally, which LMSC hoped the reorganisation might help address. The LMSC was keen to hear more about how the new organisation will work at the regional level, and we look forward to seeing the full plan. We will of course share news of this with you in our next newsletter as we are aware how many life members continue to play active roles within the NAHT.
The educational world continues to be an ‘interesting’ place, with serving members balloted for a second time in England and Wales about acting over funding, pay, conditions of service and inspection. Ofsted inspection, as you may be aware from the national media, is now the focus of the national executive and officers, who continue to press for meaningful and constructive change. With the term of office of the current chief inspector concluding in the autumn term, we may have a window of opportunity with the new appointee! The pressure brought upon many schools and their leaders’ during inspection is unacceptable, and we have sadly seen the potential impact when the system fails. Rest assured, NAHT will continue to fight for all our members.
I’m looking forward to my summer holidays, so on behalf of the LMSC I would like to wish you all a warm, happy and successful summer, wherever you spend it.
Kind regards
John Killeen
Life member sector council chair
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LMSC vice-chair Nigel Paton reflects on events at NAHT’s Annual Conference in Telford this spring
Returning to Telford for our Annual Conference at the end of April felt like returning home after our regular visits in the past three or four years. The International Centre provided a wonderful venue for what was to be a great conference, with a larger number of delegates than in previous years.
The mood was very positive and there were many common concerns to address, as shown by the motions under discussion. It was good to reflect on the way in which the association has come together in recent times as we have battled with the issue of adequate funding for our schools, as well as a call to address the unfunded pay rises for school leaders and staff. There has been a notable increase in membership across all sectors, and life members have been able to provide valuable support to branches and regions during the recent campaigns.
There was an opportunity at conference to promote the work of the LMSC and to emphasise the value of continuing membership of NAHT as a life member on retirement. Our stand was visited both by members who were still in post and nearing retirement, and those who were seeking more information about the benefits of life membership. A number of useful contacts were made during this time, and it was good to be able to meet up with old friends and colleagues once again. We hope to see you again at Annual Conference when we meet in 2024.
Thanks go to David Allen, John Killeen, Nigel Paton and Mike Wilson for manning the stand throughout conference and providing that valuable personal contact to our members. Do remember to advise any colleagues locally who are planning retirement in the coming months to contact their branch secretary or NAHT directly for more details on how to transfer to life membership, remembering that there is a time limit on when you are able to do this.
Alzheimer’s Research UK
Alzheimer’s Research UK provides accredited up-to-date, trustworthy and evidence-based information about dementia:
Supporting good mental health at work with care and compassion
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) Working Minds campaign website features a blog from the newest member of the HSE’s stress and mental health at work policy team, Chantelle Wilson.
Chantelle discusses the importance of supporting good mental health at work with care and compassion. Prior to joining the HSE, Chantelle worked in a range of different settings providing psychological support.
Don't forget that NAHT provides a free and confidential Support Line to all members, which can be reached on 0800 917 4055. Find out more here.
In case you missed it, April’s issue of NAHT’s Leadership Focus magazine covered the support available to members through their retirement – click here to see the article.
And look out for the new digital issue of your member magazine, which is due out soon – once it's published, you'll find it online at www.naht.org.uk/leadershipfocus, along with all the past issues of the magazine.
Updates for life members regarding the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS)
1. Transitional Protection Remedy
We have got another step closer to the implementation date on 1 October 2023, as the consultation closed at the beginning of June. The consultation focused on the technical and administrative processes required to remedy the discrimination and detailed both the Immediate Choice for retired members, and the Deferred Choice Underpin for active and deferred members of the TPS.
We have been closely engaged with the Department for Education (DfE) on this work, through the scheme advisory board – meaning that many of our concerns/queries have been reflected ahead of the consultation release.
Overall, we (and other unions/advisory board members) are content with the outcome and believe that the proposals do not create a detriment to members. Our focus in the response is ensuring there is effective communication to all scheme members. We are working with Teachers’ Pensions so that once the legislation has been passed, they it will be up and running with its communications.
If you are unsure whether you are affected by the Transitional Protection Remedy then go to the decision tree on the Teachers’ Pensions website to help understand:
- whether you are affected by the changes
- how you are affected by the changes
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what will happen next.
2. Ill-Health Retirement assessments
Last April, there was a change in supplier for the medical services contract for TPS which has resulted in technical difficulties and a backlog in processing of ill-health retirement (IHR) applications. When NAHT raised concerns that members were still waiting to hear whether they were successful or not in getting IHR, we were assured the backlog prior to January 2023 had been cleared. We would be grateful to hear from any life members who have applied for ill-health retirement and are still waiting for an outcome.
3. The 2020 Valuation
Every four years, the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) carries out a valuation of all unfunded public service pension schemes, including the TPS. The 2020 valuation discussions started in January and the teachers’ side is being given actuarial support by First Actuarial in its discussions with the DfE.
The valuation is the process by which scheme costs are measured and managed. It assesses the long-term cost of providing pensions and other benefits to members of each public service pension scheme, and determines the appropriate employer contribution going forward. This will result in new employer contribution rates, which will be implemented from April 2024.
NAHT will lobby for any increase in employer contributions to be met by the DfE, which has committed to providing funding for increases in employer contribution rates resulting from the 2020 valuations for one year for employers whose employment costs are centrally funded through departmental expenditure.
Any funding will not cover independent schools, some of whose staff may be our members. This happened for the 2016 valuation and as a result we saw some employers in the independent sector leaving the TPS, which we expect is likely to be the case again.
National Pensioners’ Convention
The main objective of the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) is to promote the welfare and interests of all pensioners, as a way of securing dignity, respect and financial security in retirement.
The NPC organises rallies and lobbies of MPs, leads delegations to parliament and makes submissions to the government on policies affecting older people. The NPC represents around 1.15 million members in hundreds of different organisations across the UK.
The NPC campaigns for both today's and tomorrow's pensioners. Uniting generations in defence of the welfare state and public services is an important part of its work.
Why should you get involved
- Across the country, pensioners are getting together to actively campaign on a range of issues, from the NHS and bus services to saving local libraries and improving housing
- Individuals or groups can be as active as they want to be – and the NPC has categories of membership for all ages. Join the NPC here.
You may find the following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) links helpful to share with colleagues and teams:
Here are the details of meetings of NAHT's executive committee and LMSC in 2023/24:
- NAHT Officials’ Conference – 9 and 10 November, Crowne Plaza, Bridgefoot, Stratford-Upon-Avon CV37 6YR – find out more
- LMSC – 11am to 3pm, Thursday 16 November 2023, Millbank Tower in London and via Teams
- LMSC – 11am to 3pm, March 2024 (date TBC), Millbank Tower in London and via Teams
- Annual Conference and AGM, spring 2024 (details TBC)
- LMSC – 11am to 3pm, June 2024 (date TBC), Millbank Tower in London and via Teams.
Contacts
Please contact your NAHT national office for support, guidance, representation and advice:
- NAHT – see naht.org.uk, call 0300 30 30 333, email info@naht.org.uk and follow us on Twitter using @NAHTnews
- NAHT Northern Ireland – Carnmoney House, Edgewater Office Park, Belfast BT3 9JQ, see naht.org.uk/northern-ireland, call 02890 776 633, email nahtni@naht.org.uk and follow us on Twitter using @NAHTNInews
- NAHT Cymru – 9 Rhodfa Columbus, Maes Brigantîn, Caerdydd CF10 4BY / 9 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4BY, visit naht.org.uk/cymru, call 02920 484 546, email cymru@naht.org.uk and follow us on Twitter using @CymruNAHT.
Life member sector council: who's who?
LMSC member Tony Draper
LMSC member Jayne Edwards
LMSC member David Allen
LMSC member Chris Hill
LMSC member Mike Curtis
