Pensioner Group seek Legal Opinion regarding 11% cut in pensioner income.
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“The Trustees of the BP Pension Fund have today finally admitted that they are working on plans that would fundamentally change the BP Pension Fund which has 60,000 members. Plans involve external third-party insurance companies becoming involved in managing the Fund.
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“The BP Pensioner Group of 1300 members is appalled that it has required dogged work by a Financial Times journalist to force the Pension Fund Trustees to finally admit what the Pensioner Group has been saying for the past two months.
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“The Trustees primary duty is to its members’ interests – and the failure to inform members of plans for such a radical step is completely unacceptable.
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“We call on the Trustees to commence a full consultation with the 60,000 members of the Fund who have accrued the assets and pensions rights over many years of service to BP. This must involve substantive and proper involvement of all Fund members and recognise the BP Pensioner Group as an affiliate of the Fund to strengthen relations between the Trustees and the membership going forward.
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“The Pensioner Group still awaits a response from BP’s Chief Executive Bernard Looney to the significant legal issues that we have raised not least in BP’s decision to block discretionary increases in the pension which have led to an 11% cut in real terms in pensions paid. The Fund currently enjoys a multi-billion £ surplus which BP has begun to report as a BP asset in its Annual Report & Accounts – which is matter of contention with Fund members.
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“As a consequence of these developments, the Pensioner Group of 1300 has decided today to proceed to seek a formal Legal Opinion from a pensions and trust law specialist on a number of aspects relating to both the Trustees and BP’s management of the Fund over the past two years. “