Pension news

Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) access and fairness consultation

The Government is planning changes to the LGPS rules to improve outcomes for members and their dependants. Some of the changes will affect what is paid after an LGPS member dies.

Under the current rules, some survivor pensions paid to husbands, wives or civil partners are worked out differently depending on the sex of the member and their partner. The Government plans to change the LGPS rules to remove this unfairness. Not all survivor pensions will be affected. If a survivor pension is affected by this change, it will increase.

When an LGPS pensioner member dies, there may be a death grant payable. This depends on when the member left the scheme and how long their pension has been paid for. Under the current rules, no death grant is paid when a member over age 75 dies. The Government plans to remove this upper age limit.

These changes will remove unfairness in the scheme and will be backdated. This means that some survivor pensions that are already being paid will increase, and new death grants will be paid in respect of some members who died after age 75.

The LGPS rules have not been changed yet, and Islington Council Pension Fund will inform members following any change in the scheme rules.

Normal minimum pension age is set to increase from age 55 to 57

The normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is the age at which most members of registered pension schemes can draw down on their pensions without incurring a tax charge for unauthorised payments.

The Government plans to increase the NMPA from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028 to coincide with the rise of state pension age to 67.