The UK government has confirmed it will phase the rollout of ‘access and fairness’ reforms, after concerns over the administrative impact on pension funds.
A consultation was launched in May by the UK government to explore proposals to improve equality of access to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. The measures address survivor benefits, the gender pensions gap, and member opt-outs.
The consultation closed on 7 August and has been well received for tackling issues long championed by the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB), including gender-gap reporting and opt-out data collection.
While welcoming the proposals, the LGPS sector called for a staggered implementation to ease administrative pressures.
In the government’s response to the consultation, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed it will proceed with a phased implementation.
It said there will be two phases, with the first round of changes required for the start of the 2026-27 year, and the second phase later in 2026.
The government said it will prioritise areas where it believes there is existing discrimination, adding that these proposals are “overdue” and corrections “must be made as quickly as possible to deliver equal access”.
The first phase will prioritise these proposals, as well as those where it is perceived that earlier implementation would benefit the scheme. These include:
- survivor benefits and death grants;
- gender pension gap (unpaid absences);
- gender pension gap reporting (reduced version for 2025);
- McCloud remedy;
- lifetime allowance;
- including Combined County Authorities as scheme employers.
The government said it then intends to implement the other proposals in the second phase later in 2026. These include:
- gender pension gap reporting (fuller version ahead of 2028);
- opt-out reporting;
- forfeiture;
- all other regulation changes.
The government added that, where appropriate, guidance will be developed with stakeholders such as SAB.
