Update on the petition requesting the Salvation Army UK Territory to Stop mistreating your officers (ministers). They all deserve a pension, not just those who remain as officers until retirement.
Following the recent submission of the petition, I met with the leader of the Salvation Army in the UK, Commissioner Anthony Cotterill, in London at the end of January. We were joined by Lt-Col Alan Read, the Secretary for Business Administration, for the meeting which lasted nearly two hours. I received so many messages of support beforehand and am glad to report that this potentially very difficult meeting was held in a spirit of grace for which we all thank the many folk upholding each one of us in their thoughts and prayers.
Both Anthony and Alan assured me that they and all the cabinet members, without exception, are very much wanting to make a change in this policy regarding pensions for former officers and are working hard towards that end. I came away from the meeting with a strong sense that now was indeed the right time to make a formal submission of the petition as the climate for change is so much more positive than perhaps it has been in the past. As far as I can tell, this is good news, not just for the former officers affected but for the Army itself and more importantly its mission. That said, it is apparent to me that the work of cultural change which needs to take place is still at an early stage, with much hard work, consideration of difficult questions and honest reflection required.
I have now made a follow-up to the meeting in the form of a detailed letter to encourage reflection on the past history of failed attempts to provide pensions for former officers and the inadequacies of the current ‘discretionary’ arrangements to provide some officers with a portable pension, a provision which I believe has been in place since the beginning of 2018, but only applies to officers resigning from that time onwards and who have served for at least 10 years! I feel strongly that it is only by undertaking a thorough examination of the history that we can begin to understand how we arrived at this point on the journey. This will hopefully help to ensure that any future decisions can be of better, more lasting quality. I have also requested copies of relevant documents and further information.
Too many former officers have suffered and continue to suffer because of the Salvation Army’s consciously cruel policy. Many have died without recompense. This is a hard fact for the SA live with. The question becomes “Can the SA afford not to make full retrospective pension payments, including retirement grants (lump sum) and factoring in the provision of low cost housing which retired officers receive as part of a pension package to help offset the low value of the actual monthly pension?”.
Fortunately, I am not working alone in this campaign, far from it! Others are putting their knowledge and expertise in finance and pensions etc to good effect in challenging the Directors of the SA Trustee Company and Trustees of the Officers Pension Fund to act swiftly.
I will now allow time for the SA to respond but ‘time is of the essence’ and too many decades of inaction have already passed. Those involved will continue to do all we can to work with the SA on this. However, if justice is not possible under the current leadership then there is little hope, in my opinion, for the SA to have capacity for change without greater external intervention. If that proves to be the case, this campaign will therefore need to take a different route to achieve its aim.
I will update further when I receive a detailed response to my letter. Meanwhile, please keep sharing the petition to help raise awareness and increase the number of signatures and comments even further. Thank you. Your support means a lot!
philip.mountain@talktalk.net