Socialist Party members in PCS ARMs (Associate and Retired Members)
Since it was set up with trade union support in 1979, the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) has been prominent in campaigning and lobbying for pensioners.
But recently, the NPC has had severe financial difficulties, leading many in the leadership to consider changing its status to a ‘company limited by guarantee’ (CLG). It is argued that this would enable the NPC to attract more funding to support its activities.
This has raised many concerns, the greatest being that as a CLG, with a reduced union role, the NPC would be less democratic and accountable to affiliates.
The NPC sent a consultation document to affiliates midway through 2025. A number of affiliates stressed the need for an annual conference, annual election of officers, and accountability of the NPC National Executive Council (NEC).
It was expected that these issues would go to a Special Delegate Conference in early 2026. Then out of the blue, in December 2025, the officers informed affiliates of an NEC meeting in January to discuss dissolving the existing NPC and setting it up as a CLG.
The January NEC meeting supported the motion to dissolve the NPC. A motion to delay this decision until there was a full discussion and agreement on structure and democratic issues was not allowed to be debated.
The NEC agreed to call a Special Delegate Meeting on 24 February to ratify the decision.
At the 24 February meeting, civil service union PCS representatives will move that the structures and rules in the current NPC constitution should transfer to the CLG until the consultation process has been completed and there has been a Special Delegate Conference to debate and agree the final structure.
The undemocratic way in which the controversial move to a CLG has been handled has shaken the confidence of a number of NPC supporters and affiliates.
But the attacks on pensioners from Labour, which have included cutting winter fuel payments, freezing tax thresholds and starving essential services of funding, make it essential that the NPC continues to be a strong, democratic, campaigning organisation for all pensioners, with democratic links to the trade unions.
