Main 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).