The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Scheme Advisory Board (the Board) has published a revised Code of Transparency (the Code) following a consultation held between July–August 2025 following on from the decision to replace the centralised data system supporting the Code with a framework approach. The revised version of the Code was approved by the Board on 24 November 2025 after consideration by the Investment Committee. The Board said it expects the revised Code, alongside a new framework due to go live in 2026, to continue to support greater transparency across the sector.

The Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) Advisory Board (the Board) is to publish further guidance for LGPS funds after expressing concern that, although the government has confirmed that decisions on boycotts, divestment and sanctions are a matter for central government rather than local authorities, it has not clarified whether funds should nevertheless consider international law when making investment decisions linked to conflict zones. The issue arose after many LGPS funds received legal advice from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in August 2025, arguing that funds should have regard to conventional international law when exercising their investment functions. In response, the Board wrote to the government in October 2025 seeking clarification on the legal position.

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Scheme Advisory Board along with the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) have published an 'informer document' to explain the timeline and information flow for the triennial valuation and accounting/audit purposes. The Informer explains: how the LGPS works in practice, key information flows between employing bodies, pension funds and actuaries, the content and purpose of annual accounting reports and triennial valuations, key accounting requirements for employing bodies, and the role of external auditors. Scheme employers and their external auditors, pension fund administrators, and actuaries, may find this document useful.

The Scheme Advisory Board for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has published its 2025–26 Annual Review, providing an overview of the Board’s work over the past year and setting out its key priorities to support the LGPS in the 12 months ahead.

The LGPS Scheme Advisory Board has sent a letter to the government asking for a meeting to discuss the proposed course of action set out in the recent letters sent by the government to the eight LGPS investment pools (which outlined Ministerial decisions on the pooling proposals submitted to the government as part of the Fit for the Future consultation) and requesting an extension of the deadline to give LGPS funds and pools additional time to ensure that they properly fulfil their fiduciary duties.

Pensions analysis: The Pensions Ombudsman has rejected a complaint about the payment of death benefits. Martin Scott of gunnercooke LLP looks at the decision.

The Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) Chair wrote to Pensions Minister Torsten Bell of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 7 March 2025 with three recommendations. The first involved the Virgin Media Ltd v NTL case, which confirmed in July 2024 that some amendments made to pension scheme rules are void unless the scheme actuary has certified that the scheme still meets the contracting-out adequacy test.  While the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) considered whether such certificates were provided for significant variations to public sector schemes, SAB understand that GAD has been unable to locate a complete set. Furthermore, even though HM Treasury has indicated it does not believe the implications of the Virgin Media Ltd v NTL case apply directly to public service pension schemes where changes will have been made to benefits by legislation, the Treasury’s view is not universally shared, for example either by auditors or pensions lawyers. SAB urges the government to act in order to bring clarity on the impact of the judgment for public sector pension schemes. In particular,  SAB believes that the DWP should use its statutory powers to settle the question retrospectively.  SAB also calls on the government to urgently set out a timetable for Phase Two of the Pensions Review which was to focus on pensions adequacy. SAB states that it is imperative that pension provision in the private sector is reformed to provide an adequate standard of living in retirement for all. SAB believes that Phase Two of the review is relevant to those employees paying into the LGPS who are on low salaries, often working part-time and frequently come into local government after working in other sectors. SAB also asks the government to take a consistent and active approach to the gender pensions gap across public service pension schemes. Finally, SAB recommends increasing the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965 limit from £5,000 to £20,000 to match Northern Ireland's threshold for payments made before probate. Representatives of pensions administrators have informed SAB us that the current low limit causes delays in finalising payments when a pension scheme member has died. An increase to the limit from £5,000 to £20,000 would allow more small payments to be made without the need for grant of probate or other proof of title.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has published its response to the technical consultation on the draft Local Government Pension Scheme (Pooling, Manag… on 21 May 2026. Both finalised statutory instruments were also published and laid before Parliament the same day and are set to come into force on 30 June 2026 — see Local Government Pension Scheme (Pooling, Management and Investment of Funds) Regulations 2026, SI … and Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Governance) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/545 (together, the regulations). However, Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authorities and asset pool companies are expected to comply with the minimum asset pooling standards with effect from 1 April 2026, with a minimum expectation that new shareholder agreements would be signed by that date. In the meantime, the government stated it would continue working with the sector to ensure compliance across all funds and is set to publish accompanying guidance on pooling, investment strategy statements and governance before the regulations commenced.

The Local Government Pension Scheme Central Limited (LGPS) has announced that its private market commitments from their partner funds have now exceeded £6 billion. The LGPS commitment now covers private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and property, with £2.9 billion already deployed, representing 48.7% of their total commitments. They have also returned over £522 million to their partner funds as well as an estimated 18% of deployed capital.

The website for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) employers and pension funds in England and Wales has published a new version of the 2024/25 spreadsheet for calculating the McCloud element of a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV). An error has been corrected in the previous version that prevented calculations for members with an underpin date in the current year being processed.

The Local Government Association has published versions 1.0 of the Pensions Dashboards Connection guide and the AVCs and Pensions Dashboards administrator guide for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authorities. The Pensions Dashboards connection guide aims to assist administering authorities identify the steps needed to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem. This guidance outlines the necessary actions and decisions to implement the connection programme, while also containing recommendations on timings based on the ‘connect by’ date of 31 October 2025.  While the Pensions Dashboards connection guide is specific to LGPS administering authorities, it underpins the guidance produced by the Pensions Regulator which should be the administering authorities’ ‘first port of call’,  supported by the guidance produced by the Pensions Dashboards Programme and the Pensions Administration Standards Association. The AVCs and Pensions Dashboards guide aims to provide a framework for administering authorities and AVC providers to follow in order to ensure that AVC benefits are correctly reflected on the pensions dashboard. This may entail the accommodation of a variety of approaches from different AVC providers on the part of the administering authorities.  The AVCs and Pensions Dashboards guide should be read in conjunction the LGPS Pensions Dashboard connection guide as it expands on the AVC actions set out in this guide.

The Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) of the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) has issued a ‘Statement on Fiduciary Duty and dealing with lobbying’ on 17 September 2024 to assist administering authorities when dealing with increasing queries about how LGPS funds are invested and what should form the content of responsible investment policies. The statement has been prepared with input from SAB members, its committees and working groups. In particular, SAB has issued the statement to make clear its view on the flexibility decision makers have to respond to lobbying,  the standards of behaviour expected when discussing what can be emotionally charged issues, and where to go for support if those standards are not being met. SAB’s aim is for the statement to be useful for pension committee and board members, as well as LGPS officers, advisers, scheme members and others involved in lobbying activity. SAB is also currently seeking an opinion from legal counsel as to whether there is a need to update the previous legal advice it received on the nature of fiduciary duty for LGPS administering authorities and is to provide an update on this when available.