Freedom and Choice
The Government introduced greater flexibility ('Freedom and Choice') in the way individuals aged 55 and over can access any Defined Contribution (DC) pension savings they may have. These reforms took effect from 6 April 2015
It's important that as a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) you understand that you are a member of a public sector Defined Benefit (DB) scheme and therefore the flexibilities being introduced under 'Freedom and Choice' do not impact on how you can take your Defined Benefits from the LGPS. There are, however, some indirect changes which do impact upon any members of the LGPS who are considering transferring the value of their accrued LGPS Defined Benefit pension rights from the LGPS to a DC arrangement offering 'flexible benefits'.
The questions and answers below aim to help you understand these changes: