Overview
This section provides information about the LGPS for councillors and mayors in England who join the Scheme from 11 May 2026. It details the key features and sets out how the rules for councillors and mayors (referred to as ‘elected members‘) are different.
For information about the LGPS for councillor membership before April 2014, see Pre-April 2014 Councillors in England.
Back to topKey features of the LGPS
If you are an eligible mayor or councillor in England, you have access to one of the best pension schemes out there. Take a look at the flipbook below to find out more.
Back to topWho is eligible to join?
You are are eligible to join the LGPS as an elected member if you are under age 75 and meet one of the criteria below:
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
As an elected member you do not need the consent of your 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 members to be eligible.
Town and Parish councillors are not eligible for membership.
Back to topHow to join
If you wish to join the LGPS you must opt in by writing to your Scheme employer. You can complete a standard opt in form to do this. If you receive an allowance or salary from more than one authority and you want to build up pension benefits in each role, you must complete a separate joining form for each authority.
When your Scheme employer receives your written election to join, they will bring you into the Scheme from the first day of the next payment period. Membership cannot be backdated. Your Scheme employer will then notify the relevant pension fund who will create a pension account for you. You will receive an official notification of your membership.
You should check your payslip to make sure that pension contributions are being deducted.
Back to topContribution rates
You pay contributions on your pensionable pay at your contribution rate.
Your contribution rate depends on how much you are paid. It’s currently between 5.5% and 12.5% of your pensionable pay. The rate you pay depends on which pay band you fall into. When you join, and every April afterwards, your Scheme employer will decide your contribution rate. If your pay changes throughout the year, your Scheme employer may decide to review your contribution rate.
If you receive more than one pensionable allowance and these are paid by different authorities, your contribution rate will be assessed separately by each authority in relation to the allowances they pay.
If you elect for the 50/50 section of the Scheme, you would pay half the contribution rate.
| If your actual pensionable pay is: | You pay a contribution rate of: |
|---|---|
| Up to £18,400 | 5.5% |
| £18,401 to £29,000 | 5.8% |
| £29,001 to £47,300 | 6.5% |
| £47,301 to £59,800 | 6.8% |
| £59,801 to £84,000 | 8.5% |
| £84,001 to £119,100 | 9.9% |
| £119,101 to £140,400 | 10.5% |
| £140,401 to £210,700 | 11.4% |
| £210,701 or more | 12.5% |
The contribution rates and pay bands are reviewed regularly and may change in the future. If you are a member of the Scheme, you should check your payslip to make sure that pension contributions are being taken.
You can use the Contributions calculator to see what contributions you pay based on your pensionable pay. You can use the calculator to see how your contributions are affected by your pay, tax relief and what section of the Scheme you are in.
Back to topTax relief
If you earn enough to pay tax, your LGPS contributions will attract tax relief when they are deducted from your pay.
If you do not earn enough to pay tax, you will still benefit from tax relief, but not through your pay. For the 2024/25 year onwards, the Government will make top-up payments to Scheme members in this group. We expect HMRC to make the first of these payments in 2026.
There are restrictions on the amount of tax relief available on pension contributions. If the value of your pension savings increases in a year by more than the standard annual allowance, you may have to pay a tax charge. Most people will not be affected by the annual allowance. You can find out more about Tax and your pension.
Back to topPensionable pay for elected members
Pensionable pay is the pay used to work out your pension. In most cases, it is also the pay from which your contributions are deducted.
The meaning of pensionable pay for elected members is different than for employees.
Pensionable pay for councillors and mayors is the total of following amounts paid under the authority’s approved remuneration scheme:
- Basic allowances
- Special responsibility allowances
- Relevant allowances
- Any relevant salary paid
A relevant allowance is an allowance paid under a combined authority or combined county authority establishment order except travel and subsistence allowances. Travel and subsistence allowances are not pensionable.
Back to topScheme employers for elected members
Your Scheme employer is the body deemed to be responsible for your LGPS membership. As a councillors or mayor, you do not have an employer and therefore a body is nominated to perform this role for you.
Your Scheme employer is generally the body that pays you an allowance or salary and can therefore deduct contributions directly. Some councillors will have multiple Scheme employers and can therefore opt into the Scheme in multiple roles and have multiple pension accounts. For example, a councillor who serves on:
- Huntingdonshire District Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire and Rescue Authority, and
- the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
will receive allowances paid directly from four separate bodies. If they elect to join the LGPS in all their roles, they will have four Scheme employers and four separate pension accounts.
Back to topMain differences in how LGPS rules apply to elected members
- Councillors and mayors are not employees, so you do not have an employer in the usual sense. Instead, the authority that pays your 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.
- Elected members are not contractually or automatically enrolled into the LGPS. You must actively opt in if you want to build up pension benefits. If you receive an allowance or salary from more than one authority and want pension benefits from each role, you must complete a separate joining form for each authority.
- The rules around what counts as ‘pensionable pay’ are different for elected members. See the section below for more detail.
- You cannot choose combine elected membership of the Scheme with membership as a non-elected member.
- You cannot flexibly retire or take early retirement due to redundancy or efficiency.
- 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 underpin protection.
- Your Scheme employer cannot award you extra pension or pay into a shared‑cost AVC for you, 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).