PENSIONS
Recently, there’s been a flurry of activity around the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) so here’s a summary of the last few months’ announcements regarding the LGPS and the government’s pensions review from Jo Donnelly, board secretary, LGPS advisory board
A lthough the King’s Speech at the state opening of Parliament on 17 July 2024 didn’t contain direct references to the LGPS, it did confirm that the government would be launching a wider pensions review. Shortly after, on 20 July 2024, Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the Exchequer, announced more detail of this landmark review as part of the government’s mission to “boost growth and make every part of Britain better off”. It was also confirmed that the pensions review would be led by the pensions minister, Emma Reynolds – the first jointly appointed minister across both HM
Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions. The minister of state at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jim McMahon (who has responsibility for the LGPS), would also be leading the review. Moving at pace Highlighting the speed at which things have moved, a roundtable hosted by the chancellor was held on 22 July 2024 at 11 Downing Street, to discuss the proposed pensions review. The LGPS was represented by the scheme advisory board secretary and LGPS pool representatives.
More detail was provided and the LGPS was specifically mentioned as being in scope on 16 August 2024, when a terms of reference (https://ow.ly/ JWhZ50UohZA) was published, setting out the first phase of the review. The review was to focus on developing policy in four areas: l driving the scale and consolidation of defined contribution (DC) workplace schemes l tackling fragmentation and inefficiency in the LGPS through consolidation and improved governance l the structure of the pensions ecosystem
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | February 2025 | Issue 107 50
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