On 13th June 2023, The Scottish Pensioners’ Forum held our 31st Annual Conference at the Townhouse in Aberdeen, our first time back in the city for over 10 years.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Coming out of Covid – What’s Changed?” and delegates in Aberdeen certainly had a lot to say on the matter.

Guest speakers included David Linden MP, SNP Westminster Spokesperson on Social Justice, Mercedes Villalba MSP, North East Region and Linda Carmichael of the WASPI Campaign,

The Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Dr David Cameron, extended a Civic Welcome to delegates saying that “older people should be respected and revered for their continued contribution to society in their later years” and commended the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum for their work in campaigning for older people’s rights and welfare across Scotland.

David Linden MP addressed guests saying “there has to be a better system for pensioners in Scotland, the UK state pension is no way near generous enough sitting at around a quarter of the average wage and it is put to shame by countries such as Luxembourg and Austria at 90%”

Mercedes Villalba, a long-time supporter of the work of the SPF stated “we must celebrate the solidarity between workers and pensioners, as well as younger and older people. We can, and do, work well together.”

Linda CarmichaeI spoke to delegates on the UK Government’s denial to fully compensate 1950s born women for the lack of notice given to them as a consequence of the changes to the 1995 and 2011 Pensions Act and spoke on how many women had suffered long term effects to their physical and mental health due to the continued strain of the campaign.

A motion calling for the reinstatement of a named Minister for Older People in Scotland was unanimously passed and we have since contacted the First Minister of Scotland for a second time to make such demands. Conference delegates also voted to call for the strengthening of the Scottish Government’s Older People’s Strategic Action Forum as the direct mechanism for engagement with the Scottish Government. Looking ahead, we are hoping to hold our next annual conference in Stirling or Motherwell. More information on this will follow in due course.