Report of Retired Members' Secretary to Branch Annual General meeting - 15 Feb 06

1. There are at any one time about 850 retired members attached to this branch. The Retired Members' Committee, under the chairmanship of Rosemary Lane, currently comprises 15 members and meets 4 times a year. Colin Willett is our Hon. Treasurer and Sue Twyford, our Social Secretary. The Retired Members' Secretary represents the Retired Members Committee on the Branch Executive Committee and also the Branch Finance & General Purposes Committee.

2. We have seen a year of significant lobbying and representational activity.

• Representation at the SWTUC Retired Members Conference, the Pensioners Parliament and the Unison Retired Members Conference.
• Election of Sue Abraham to the Unison SW Retired Members Advisory Committee.
• Motion deploring the outcome of the Water Price Review and calling on Government to take remedial action to redress inequalities caused to customers consequent upon privatisation of the water industry was steered successfully through the SWTUC Retired Members Conference.
• Successful motion to the Unison Retired Members Conference opposing the legislation to introduce compulsory identity cards.
• Dialogue with Councillor Jenny Jenkins who is the champion for older people on Devon County Council.
• Support for the introduction of the Devonwide free bus travel scheme being introduced from April 2006.
• Representations to the Home Office in response to its proposal to reduce accountability of police authorities by reducing the number of police forces from 43 to possibly as few as 12.
• Submission to the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government Funding
• Supporting the campaign to oppose the restriction of funding for adult education to largely vocational based courses.
• Support for the Pensioners' Charter.
• Continued representation on the Pension and Investment Committee on behalf of all beneficiaries.

3. We have had another successful year of social activities.

• A full programme of social trips and talks - there are 10 of these organised during the year.
• Providing support as necessary in welfare cases.
• Providing informal 'signposting' advice to retired members e.g. Care Direct, mail and telephone preference service and Unison's wills and conveyancing services.

4. We also have undertaken several other activities.

• The production and distribution of a bi-monthly newsletter.
• The production of an annual directory of members detailing addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, as a means of improving communication between retired members. The directory is also contained within a password protected section of the branch website.
• The production of a questionnaire to help inform the planning of future social trips.
• Continued branch support - providing a team for helping the Branch Office with mail outs, in particular Unity and other branch mailings as and when required, and providing input to the pensions' debate.

5. As to the future, we expect another busy year.

• We shall be submitting a motion to the South West TUC Pensioners Conference on the possibility of capping water charges.
• We shall be submitting a further response to the Lyons Inquiry following its extended terms of reference.
• We shall also be represented this year on Agile, the Devon Action Group on Later Life.
• We have an interesting programme of social events for this year and hope to initiate an annual luncheon for retired members in April as opposed to the traditional Christmas Lunch.

6. This report demonstrates that the Retired Members Section continues to be active in providing considerable support to its retired members as well as to the branch. We record our thanks to the branch for its continued support to the retired members section and acknowledge the valuable assistance of the staff in the branch office.

Colin Lomax
Retired Members' Secretary