Bulletin 278

LGPS England & Wales

Pension Schemes Act 2026

The Pension Schemes Bill has now completed its passage through Parliament and
received Royal Assent, becoming the Pensions Schemes Act 2026. This marks a
significant milestone in the Government’s programme of pensions reform and
introduces measures affecting both public and private sector schemes.

For the LGPS, this means MHCLG will soon be able to provide a full response to
the Fit for the Future technical consultation, lay secondary legislation and publish
the necessary statutory guidance. We will keep you updated on timescales as they
become available.

LGPC special bulletin 276 – Access and Fairness

On 1 April 2026, we published special bulletin 276. The bulletin provides commentary for administering authorities in England and Wales on the changes introduced by the LGPS (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Member Benefits) Regulations 2026. The regulations implement the first phase of the Access and Fairness proposals. For each change, we set out the relevant regulations, a description of the amendment and its impact.

The bulletin also references the statutory survivor benefit guidance published by MHCLG, and updated actuarial guidance notes. The statutory guidance is to assist administering authorities implement the updated survivor benefit rules including the equalisation of survivor benefits and the revised death grant provisions. It sets out that administering authorities must make every reasonable attempt to identify eligible cases, calculate entitlements and make payment of any backdated amounts due. It also specifies minimum reasonable processes and timescales to be followed.

You can view the bulletin on the Bulletins page.

If you have any queries about the changes, please email [email protected].

Qualifying additional pension arrangement (QAPA) calculator

On 20 April 2026, we published a calculator that employers may use when offering a member the opportunity to enter into a QAPA. A QAPA allows a member to buy back pension lost during a continuous period of authorised unpaid leave of more than 14 days that started after 31 March 2026. On the same day, Rachel Abbey emailed administering authorities to tell them about the calculator and to share additional information that authorities may wish to pass on to employers.

You can find the QAPA calculator on the Employer – other guides and documents page of www.lgpsregs.org. It includes general notes about QAPAs and clear instructions on how to complete the spreadsheet.

We have not produced template letters, as we expect employers to adapt their existing communications to reflect the changes, rather than starting from scratch.

The spreadsheet does not cover some less common scenarios. Employers may need to adapt it where:

the member pays by lump sum directly to the pension fund
the authorised break lasts for more than three years and the employer does not contribute beyond the first three years
the member moves between the main and 50/50 sections during the unpaid period, or
the member wants to spread regular contributions over more than nine years.

The Buy lost pension calculator on the member website still applies in some situations. For example, where the authorised absence started before 1 April 2026, was due to strike, or where the member elects after the QAPA deadline.

Please contact us if you have any questions. We will review how the QAPA calculator is used over the coming months and consider further improvements.

QAPAs and APCs – similarities and differences

We have received a number of queries about the differences between qualifying additional pension arrangements (QAPAs) and Additional Pension Contribution (APC) contracts. Regulation 16 of the LGPS Regulations 2013 covers both QAPAs and APCs. Where the regulations do not set out a difference, then the same rules apply to both types of contract.

The main differences are:

Cost: The cost of a QAPA is based on the normal employer and member contributions that would have been paid if the member was not on unpaid leave. The cost of an APC is based on age-related factors, with the employer meeting two thirds of the cost if the member makes their election within 30 days of returning to work (or within a longer period agreed by the employer).
Deadlines: The member has 12 months from returning to work after the unpaid absence to apply for a QAPA, or a longer period agreed by the employer. The member may not elect for a QAPA after this deadline has passed. The member could then take out an APC and meet the full cost themselves.
Benefits paid on redundancy: Qualifying additional pension is not reduced if the member retires early due to redundancy or efficiency. Additional pension bought through an APC or shared cost APC contract is reduced if the member retires early due to redundancy or efficiency
Survivor pensions: Qualifying additional pension is included when working out any survivor pension that becomes payable. If an active member is paying a QAPA by regular contributions, the contract is deemed to be complete if the member dies in service. Additional pension bought through an APC is not included when working out any survivor pension.
Medical assessment: An administering authority may require a satisfactory medical report before allowing a member to start an APC contract. They may not require one before allowing a member to start a QAPA.

The following are rules that apply to both QAPAs and APCs that we have received queries about:

the member can pay by lump sum or regular contributions
an arrangement to pay regular contributions must last for a year or multiple years; it cannot be a part-year
an arrangement to pay by regular contributions must end before the member’s normal pension age (NPA). A member within a year of their NPA or over NPA can only pay by the extra contributions by lump sum
the extra pension bought is credited to the member’s pension account when it is paid for, not when the member took unpaid leave
if the member is paying by regular contributions, a proportion of the total amount of extra pension they have contracted to buy is credited to the pension account each Scheme year that they pay the extra contributions
if a contract to pay regular contributions ends early, other than because of ill health retirement or death, the member is credited with a proportion of the extra pension they contracted to buy based on the number of regular contributions they have paid
a contract ends when any of the events listed in regulation 16(11) occurs – the only exception to this is 16(11)(c) which refers to a member moving to the 50/50 section.
if a member retires with a Tier 1 or 2 ill health pension before the end of an arrangement to pay regular contributions has finished, they are credited with the total amount of extra pension that they contracted to buy
additional pension bought through a QAPA or APC is included when assessing whether a member has reached the additional pension limit (£9,054 a year in 2026/27).

We will issue an updated version of the APC technical guide in the coming weeks that covers both APCs and QAPAs. We also intend to publish a calculator that administering authorities can use to work out whether a member with multiple APCs and/or QAPAs has exceeded the additional pension limit.

LGPC special bulletin 277 – councillors and mayors

On 24 April 2026, we published special bulletin 277. The bulletin provides commentary for administering authorities and employers in England on the introduction of councillors and mayors in England (referred to as ‘elected members’) to the LGPS by the LGPS (Amendment) (Elected Member Pensions) Regulations 2026. It may also be of interest to administering authorities in Wales, where councillors continue to pay into the LGPS under the 1997 Regulations, in particular the section on aggregation.

The bulletin sets out the differences between elected members and non-elected members in the LGPS, as well as a detailed overview of relevant topics for elected members.

Alongside this bulletin, we published the following templates:

a short introductory leaflet for elected members
a double-sided promotional leaflet
an elected member LGPS opt in form.

You can find them on the Employers – Councillors and mayors page.

We are preparing a brief guide to the Scheme for elected members. We will also update the member website, the timeline regulations and the technical guides which are impacted by these changes.

New resources

On 9 April 2026, we emailed administering authorities to let them know about new resources for LGPS administrators in England and Wales.

‘Access and Fairness’ template disclosure wording

Bulletin 276 (page 3) sets out our view on the disclosure requirements relating to the ‘Access and Fairness’ regulations. We have published template wording that administering authorities can use to notify members about these changes. We have also published an adapted version as a news article on the member website.

New AVC calculator

MHCLG has issued updated actuarial guidance on lump sum commutation. While the changes mainly reflect the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance, the updated guidance also confirms the calculation that applies when a member uses part of an AVC fund to purchase extra pension in the LGPS and takes the rest as tax-free cash.

To ensure a consistent approach, we have produced a calculator for administering authorities to determine the maximum pension commencement lump sum in these cases – the ‘AVCs: Max PCLS plus scheme pension calculator’.

LGPS Scotland

Updates to guides and factsheets

On 2 April 2026, Steven Moseley emailed administering authorities confirming we have published updated versions of the following guides:

Employee brief guide – version 2.6
Retirement planning guide – version 1.6
Councillors brief guide – version 2.5
Payroll guide – version 2.1.

The updates include:

2026/27 contribution tables
new APC limits
other minor changes.

The new versions, plus versions showing tracked changes, can be found on the Administrator guides and documents page of www.scotlgpsregs.org. The Payroll guide is also published on the Employer guides and documents page.

Other than the Payroll guide, the guides are published in Word so administering authorities can add contact information and any other specific details. Additional steps may be needed if the documents are converted to PDF for publication, to ensure they comply with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 – for more information see bulletin 190. For example, any tables will need tagging correctly.

You can find more information online about:

We have also made corresponding updates to the member website.

Ill health statutory guidance and template certificate updated

Craig Finlay, Policy Officer at SPPA, sent administering authorities an updated version of the ill health retirement and IDRP guidance on 10 April 2026.

The updated version includes information on Benefits Assessment under Special Rules in Scotland (BASRiS), which was omitted in the version published in January.

The new guidance is available on the SPPA website. You can also find it, along with a tracked‑changes version, on the Scheme regulations page of www.scotlgpsregs.org (click on ‘statutory guidance relating to the LGPS Regulations 2018’).

We have also published a revised set of ill health certificates (v1.3). These certificates now include an updated link to the April 2026 guidance. They are available on the Administrator guides and documents page of www.scotlgpsregs.org.

Pensions dashboards

TPR publishes market oversight report and updated guidance

On 23 April 2026, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) published its market oversight report on pensions dashboards. The report summarises the findings of its engagement with large schemes to understand how well prepared they are.

Following this engagement, TPR updated its guidance on pensions dashboards to incorporate its findings. It has published before and after-connection checklists to ensure schemes are on track to meet their duties.

TPR value data and recency

Some schemes have raised concerns with TPR about meeting regulatory timeframes for providing value data to the ecosystem, due to the delay between when the value data is calculated and when it becomes available on dashboards.

TPR has confirmed that where this occurs, administering authorities should consider whether the delay constitutes a breach of law that needs to be reported. It has updated its breaches of law guidance to include two new dashboard specific examples of green breaches. It has also confirmed that:

“Whether a breach is materially significant will depend on several factors, including the length of the delay, whether it is an isolated incident, and the level of risk to savers’ ability to receive clear and accurate value data in a timely way. We may also take into account any mitigating actions taken to reduce risks to savers.

Our expectation is that clear, accurate data should be provided in a timely manner to ensure a good experience for savers.

Breaches of short and isolated duration (for example where the value provided is from a calculation only a few weeks outside the 12 month period and in any event within 13 months) and those which take place during user testing and before the public launch of dashboards are likely to be of less material significance to us. However, scenarios where the breach is of a longer duration or outside the testing phase are more likely to be materially significant.

You may also wish to review our Compliance and Enforcement Policy.”

PMI publishes pensions dashboards guide

On 22 April 2026, the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) published its 2026 Pensions Dashboards Guide.

The guide brings together expert insight from across the pensions industry to help schemes prepare for the statutory connection deadline of 31 October 2026, focussing on data quality, matching, governance, member engagement and the long-term impact dashboards are expected to have on the UK pensions system.

PDP connection deadline blog

On 28 April 2026, the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) published a blog titled ‘Connection deadline: your questions answered’.

With just six months to go to until the final connection deadline of 31 October 2026, PDP have confirmed over 1000 pension providers and schemes have connected, representing over 60 million pension records from workplace and personal pensions.

LGPS England & Wales Scheme Advisory Board (SAB)

MHCLG issues update on the Fit for the Future reforms

On 1 April 2026, the Board’s Secretariat sent an email to each LGPS administering authority in England and Wales with a letter from MHCLG. The letter relates to the LGPS Fit for the Future reforms.

The email was sent to the contacts listed on the Your LGPS Contacts database. If you believe you should have received this communication but did not, or if any contact details require updating, speak to your pension manager.

SAB launches LGPS network mapping exercise

At its meeting on 23 March 2026 , the Board agreed to carry out a network mapping exercise as part of a wider review of internal governance arrangements. The exercise will map existing groups that support the LGPS. This will help the SAB understand what groups are already in place, identify any gaps and ultimately improve engagement with our stakeholders.

To support this work, please complete the SAB’s LGPS network mapping form. Submit details for one network per form. The deadline for submissions is by close of play Friday 22 May 2026. For this exercise, a ‘network; includes any formal or informal group, forum, or community of practice that brings together LGPS professionals to share learning, collaborate on sector-wide issues, or shape policy.

If you have any questions or issues accessing the form, email [email protected].

Pension board chairs event

As reported in Bulletin 275, the SAB Secretariat is organising its first pension board chairs’ meeting on 12 May 2026. This follows the success of earlier events held for pension committee chairs.

Senior officials from MHCLG will attend to share the Government’s perspective.

The Secretariat has sent invitations to all pension board chairs using the contact details held in the Your LGPS Contacts database. If any pension board chairs have not received this invitation, please contact [email protected].

Invitation to become an LGPS peer

To support delivery of the SAB’s Peer Support project, we are inviting officers with senior-level experience, local pension board and pension committee members to register interest in becoming a peer.

We are particularly keen to hear from:

individuals appointed to the LGPS senior officer role and for other senior officers responsible for specific functions (such as administration, governance or investment)
local pension board members
pension committee members.

If you are interested in supporting this exciting project, please contact [email protected].

We will provide full training to all peers. The first training event is being held on Monday 18 May 2026 (10am – 3pm). You can attend in person at the LGA offices at 18 Smith Square, London or online via Microsoft Teams.

If you cannot attend on this date, please still get in touch to register your interest as future training dates will be available.

2025 triennial fund valuations

The Board has now received the 2025 valuation reports for all LGPS (England and Wales) pension funds. You can view the reports on the Board’s website.

Barnett Waddingham is currently preparing a scheme-level report of the valuation data. The Board will publish this report on its website once complete. It is expected to be available in summer 2026.

Board and committee membership

The SAB Secretariat invited expressions of interest for the practitioner representative vacancy on the Compliance and Reporting Committee (CRC) in Bulletin 271 and Bulletin 272.

To ensure the Committee is adequately supported, the Board and CRC Chair approved the nomination of two practitioners, Vickie Hampshire and Heather Wake.

Board websit

The Board’s website and LinkedIn page provide information about the work of the Board and its committees.

The Board also welcomes feedback on its new website, following its successful launch in January 2026. This includes feedback on how easy it is to navigate the site or find content. Please use the feedback section at the bottom of each webpage to share your comments with the Board.

HMRC

HMRC newsletter 180

On 23 April 2026, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published pension schemes newsletter 180. The newsletter contains updates on:

Lifetime allowance protection look-up service

The old unauthenticated online route has now been switched off. The new protection lookup service on the managing pension schemes service should be used instead.

Normal minimum pension age (NMPA) transitional regulations

HMRC is developing transitional regulations to support the increase in the NMPA from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028.

HMRC explains that the transitional regulations are intended to ensure members who are aged 55 or 56 on 5 April 2028, without a protected pension age, who have already become entitled to certain pension benefits before 6 April 2028 can continue to receive payments after that date as authorised payments. For these purposes, the member would be treated as having reached age 57 immediately before their first payment on or after 6 April 2028.

The newsletter article provides early background on the proposed scope and impact of the transitional regulations. All information remains provisional and subject to change. It discusses the expected approach for scheme pensions, pension commencement lump sums (PCLS) and pension commencement excess lump sums where entitlement arose before 6 April 2028, but payment is made after. It also suggests that uncrystallised funds pension lump sums paid on or after 6 April 2028 will only be authorised if the member is 57 at the time of payment (or has a protected pension age).

NMPA transitional arrangements – example

An LGPS member first joins after 3 November 2021 (so does not have a protected pension age on their LGPS benefits). On 15 March 2028, aged 55, they draw their LGPS pension. The entitlement date of the pension under the Finance Act 2004 is also 15 March 2028. The entitlement date is when you have all the information and completed forms needed to make payment – it can be on or after the pension start date, see PTM061310 for more information. The member elects to commute some pension for a PCLS, which is paid on 9 April 2028.

In the absence of transitional regulations, the PCLS would be unauthorised and all pension payments between 6 April 2028 and the member’s 57th birthday would also be unauthorised.

If the transitional regulations reflect the scope set out in the newsletter, both the PCLS and all pension payments (including the payments made between 6 April 2028 and the 57th birthday) would instead be authorised.

As the payments would not have been authorised had the entitlement date under the Finance Act 2004 been after 5 April 2028, it will be crucial to avoid delays in the retirement process.

LGPS England & Wales

LGPS Scotland

All administering authorities

LGPS England & Wales

Pension Schemes Act 2026

LGPC special bulletin 276 – Access and Fairness

Qualifying additional pension arrangement (QAPA) calculator

QAPAs and APCs – similarities and differences

LGPC special bulletin 277 – councillors and mayors

New resources

‘Access and Fairness’ template disclosure wording

New AVC calculator

LGPS Scotland

Updates to guides and factsheets

Ill health statutory guidance and template certificate updated

Other news and updates

Data protection – new complaints duties

LGPC minutes published

McCloud remedy

Updates to McCloud transfer calculators

Updated McCloud non-Club calculator

Updated McCloud Club transfer calculator

Pensions dashboards

TPR publishes market oversight report and updated guidance

TPR value data and recency

PMI publishes pensions dashboards guide

PDP connection deadline blog

Training

2026 training programme

Survey prize draw winner

LGPS England & Wales Scheme Advisory Board (SAB)

MHCLG issues update on the Fit for the Future reforms

SAB launches LGPS network mapping exercise

Pension board chairs event

Invitation to become an LGPS peer

2025 triennial fund valuations

Board and committee membership

Board websit

HMRC

HMRC newsletter 180

Lifetime allowance protection look-up service

Normal minimum pension age (NMPA) transitional regulations

NMPA transitional arrangements – example

TPO

McCloud complaints update

TPR

TPR guidance on Virgin Media remedy