LGPS — Local Government Pension Scheme

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, covering millions of people working for local councils and a wide range of related public sector employers across England and Wales, from school support staff and leisure centre workers to environmental health officers and social workers. Unlike many other public sector pensions, the LGPS builds up your pension using a career average formula, revalued each year in line with inflation, rather than being based on your final salary — and crucially, it is a genuinely funded scheme, meaning contributions are invested by regional pension funds in real assets rather than simply passed straight through from current taxation.

Membership brings more than just a retirement income. The scheme includes valuable built-in protections such as ill-health retirement, a death-in-service lump sum, and survivor benefits for your family, alongside the flexibility of the 50/50 option, which lets you pay half your normal contributions for half the normal pension build-up during a period when money is tight — all while keeping full life assurance and ill-health cover in place. The guides below cover the essentials of how the LGPS works, when 50/50 might suit you, and how pay changes can interact with your annual allowance.