Local government pensions

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is the main pension scheme for the local government sector in England and Wales.

As well as being participating employers in the LGPS, some local authorities are also administering authorities and have a separate role in administering the regional funds within the LGPS. Administering authorities may also provide third party administration services to other public service pension scheme funds, such as the Police Pension Scheme and the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme.

Local authorities may also participate in:

•
the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in respect of teachers employed at certain maintained schools, and
•
the NHS Pension Scheme in respect of former NHS employees whose employment has transferred to such local authorities

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

The main pension scheme for local authorities is the LGPS. The LGPS is a statutory, public service pension scheme for local government and related employees in England and Wales. There are separate schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For information on Scotland, see Practice Note: Public sector pension schemes in England and Scotland—key differences.

The LGPS is the largest of all the public service

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Pensions News

TPR’s annual overview of UK DB and hybrid market shows further contraction in 2025

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has released its annual statistics publication on the occupational defined benefit (DB) landscape in UK for 2025. This publication offers a summary of the occupational DB and hybrid scheme environment in the UK, detailing scheme status, membership numbers, and assets under management. This year’s report covers 200 public sector DB schemes and 5,060 private sector schemes. Key findings reveal that the DB and hybrid landscape continues to shrink at a yearly rate of 3% on average. Schemes are still closing, with the percentage closed to future accrual (excluding those in wind-up) increasing from 73% in 2024 to 74% in 2025. However, the total number of schemes closed to future accruals has decreased this year for the first time (from 5,656,000 in 2024 to 5,413,000 in 2025). Total membership in private DB and hybrid schemes has decreased by 3% since 2024 to 9,174,000. Despite these trends, the funding level has remained the same as 2024, at 118%. This is because asset amounts and technical provision (TP) liabilities have both fallen by 10% since 2024. The percentage of schemes in TP surplus is 82% in 2025, up from 80% in 2024. There are equal pensioner members (47% of total members) and deferred members (46% of total members) in private schemes.

New TPO factsheet explains key issues members need to know about overpayments

The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has published a factsheet to help scheme members understand the key issues which arise when a pension has been overpaid. The factsheet is designed to be factual, neutral, and enable disputes to be resolved at the earliest possible stage. TPO encourages schemes to share this information with a member either when informing them of an overpayment or when a member challenges an attempt to reclaim an overpayment.

UKSIF publishes report calling for overhaul of UK sustainability disclosures

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) has published a report calling for a bold evolution of the UK’s sustainability disclosure regime. The report, which draws on a survey of 20 members with £4.5trn in assets under management (AUM), found 85% of respondents cited accuracy issues in company disclosures and 70% reported difficulties verifying environmental, social and governance (ESG) data, with none rating the overall quality of ESG information as very high. UKSIF recommends introducing mandatory, standardised disclosures aligned with International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, alongside climate transition plans for larger companies, to improve consistency and provide more robust forward-looking information.

FRC launches consultation on Draft Annual Plan and Budget 2026–27

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has opened a consultation on its Draft Annual Plan and Budget for 2026–27. The draft plan sets out the FRC's priorities and resources for the next year. The delivery for 2026–27 includes five major projects: (1) End-to-End Enforcement; (2) The Future Audit Supervision Strategy; (3) Enterprise Resource Planning; (4) The programme to support Small-Medium Enterprises; and (5) The FRC Innovation and Improvement Hub. The FRC aims to deliver these activities as efficiently as possible adhering to the principles of managing public money, assessing economic impact, and providing value for the public and the UK economy. The Consultation will be opened until 6 February 2026.