The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has launched a consultation on changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. All members and employers within the LGPS are invited to respond. The proposed changes are intended to improve fairness in and access to the LGPS.
Please find detailed below some of the areas of the consultation which you may wish to consider:
Survivor benefits and death grants
- equalising survivor benefits
- removing the age 75 limit for death grant eligibility
- removing the requirement for a death grant to be paid to the personal representatives where it is not paid within the two-year period
- removing the requirement to nominate a cohabiting partner in the 2008 Scheme
Gender pensions gap benefits
- making authorised absences of less than 31 days automatically pensionable
- aligning the cost of buying back lost pension for authorised absences of over 30 days with the standard member contribution rates
- extending the time limit for electing to buy back lost pension from 30 days to 12 months
- removing the limit that provides employers must only share the cost of buying back lost pension for a maximum period of three years
- updating the definition of child-related leave to include all periods of additional maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave without pay
Opt outs
- making reporting the rate of opt outs mandatory for administering authorities
- reports must be included in the annual report each year
- collection of additional opt-out data by MHCLG e.g. ethnicity, religion, marital status, hours, salary
- there will be a mandated opt out form
MHCLG has published a draft statutory instrument, the Local Government Pension Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025, alongside this consultation.
The consultation closes on 7 August 2025
You can view the consultation documents on the scheme consultations page of the LGS Regs website.
You can respond to the consultation online or email memberbenefitsconsultation@communities.gov.uk