Overview
Councillors in England were not able to join the LGPS between 1 April 2014 and 10 May 2026. Those councillor members in England who were members of the Scheme on 31 March 2014 were able to remain in the LGPS until the end of their term of office. They were not able to re-join the LGPS is any subsequent term of office. See Pre-April 2014 Councillors in England for more information on rules for councillors before April 2014.
From 11 May 2026, councillors and mayors in England can join the Scheme again. You can find out more about the key features of the LGPS for councillors and mayors in this section.
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) provides pension benefits for councillors and mayors (referred to as ‘elected members’) in England who are under age 75. You are automatically eligible to join if you receive an allowance or salary from a district council, county council, combined authority, combined county authority, London borough council, fire and rescue authority or the Council of the Isles of Scilly. Members of the London Assembly, the Court of Common Council of the City of London and the Mayor of London can also join the Scheme, with the agreement of their authority.
This leaflet gives you a simple outline of the Scheme. It explains what you will pay in and what benefits you will receive.
The LGPS is a secure and safe scheme. The regulations guarantee your benefits, so you don’t need to worry about stock market performance or changes in share prices.
Back to topWho is eligible to join?
The elected members below are eligible for the Scheme provided they are under age 75.
Mayors
- mayors and deputy mayors of combined authorities
- mayor and deputy mayors of combined county authorities
- the Mayor of London
- mayors of single authorities – although access is in their role as a councillor
Councillors
- members of county and district councils, including unitary councils
- members of London boroughs councils
- members of the Common Council of the City of London
- members of the Council of the Isles of Scilly
- members of the London Assembly
Elected members do not need the consent of their authority to join the LGPS. The exceptions to this are members elected to the London Assembly, the Common Court of the City of London and the Mayor of London – these bodies are required to make a determination for the member to be eligible.
Town and Parish councillors are not eligible for membership.
Back to topMain differences in how LGPS rules apply to councillors and mayors
- Councillors and mayors are not employees, so they do not have an employer in the usual sense. Instead, the authority that pays their pensionable allowance or salary is treated as the LGPS Scheme employer and carries out the usual employer responsibilities, such as meeting part of the cost of benefits.
- If you are an elected member, you are not automatically put into the LGPS. You must actively opt in if you want to build up pension benefits.
- The rules around what counts as ‘pensionable pay’ are different for elected members. More detail on this is explained in the section below.
- Membership as an elected member cannot be combined with membership as a non-elected member by choice.
- Elected members cannot flexibly retire.
- If you transfer final salary benefits from another public service pension scheme into the LGPS, these will be converted into career average (CARE) benefits rather than final salary benefits.
- Elected members are not protected by the LGPS underpin protections.
- The scheme employer cannot award extra pension to elected members or pay into a shared‑cost AVC for them, unless the AVC is set up as a salary‑sacrifice shared‑cost AVC.
- Scheme employers cannot share the cost of Additional Pension Contributions (APCs) for councillors unless the arrangement is a ‘qualifying additional pension arrangement’ (QAPA).