7 August 2025
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched a consultation on member benefits in the LGPS, aimed at improving fairness in and access to the scheme. The document, published on 15 May, includes proposals in several areas:
- Addressing survivor pensions and deaths grants
- Addressing the gender pension gap in the LGPS
- Collecting data on how many members opt out of the scheme and why
- Changes to forfeiture, aiming to tackle long-standing issues with forfeiture in the LGPS
- Several technical changes to how the McCloud remedy operates
- A number of other miscellaneous changes, including changes to five-year refunds, pre-2014 AVCs and small pot payments.
While supportive of the proposed changes, Pensions UK has submitted a letter in response to this consultation, focusing mainly on the potential administrative burden brought by implementation of the proposals.