From 11 May 2026, councillors and mayors in England are eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This does not include parish and town councillors.
The change is following the government's access and protections consultation and is detailed in The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Elected Member Pensions) Regulations 2026.
Elected Members were previously eligible for LGPS membership, however, their eligibility was removed when The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 came into force from 1 April 2014.
You can find information for councillors, including an introductory leaflet and option form for them to complete to join the LGPS. We recommend that you include the leaflet and form within welcome packs for incoming elected members and targeted communications for existing elected members.
We have hosted a webinar to explain the regulatory changes and have attached the slides of our presentation to this page. You can watch the recording of the webinar on this page or on our YouTube channel.
Employer guidance quick links
Main differences for elected members
Eligible elected members are treated as employees of their LGPS employer for the purposes of the LGPS regulations. Elected members and mayors are generally subject to the same regulations as other LGPS members, with the following main differences:
- they must opt to join the LGPS - they are not contractually or automatically enrolled
- pensionable pay is defined differently
- they cannot choose to combine elected membership with non-elected membership
- they cannot take Flexible Retirement
- the rules on immediate payment of pension from age 55 due to redundancy or business efficiency do not apply (because they cannot be made redundant)
- their LGPS employer cannot contribute towards additional pension arrangements, except where the arrangement is a ‘qualifying additional pension arrangement (QAPA)'
- the LGPS employer cannot contribute to a shared cost AVC (other than a salary sacrifice shared cost AVC)
- the LGPS employer cannot award additional pension or waive early retirement reductions.
Eligibility and opting to join the scheme
From 11 May 2026, elected members of County and District Councils may elect to join the LGPS in England provided they are under age 75. Elected members do not need the consent to join the LGPS from the authority they are elected to.
Town and Parish elected members are not eligible for membership. This is because the definition of an eligible elected member only includes those who are included in an allowance scheme under the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.
Councils may wish to review and update their Members’ Allowances Scheme and any related statements or policies to reflect this change. Please ensure your democracy/legal officer is aware of the change to enable any necessary arrangements to be made.
Elected members may be appointed to, and receive allowances from, bodies other than the council or authority to which they are elected. This typically arises where the council or authority has statutory responsibilities or partnership arrangements with other bodies and it appoints elected members to sit on their committees or sub-committees. An example of this is Fire and Rescue Authorities.
Where an elected member receives an allowance that is paid directly by the body to which they are appointed (rather than by the council or authority they are elected to), that body is treated as the LGPS employer in relation to that allowance, provided it is an eligible body. The appointing body is therefore responsible for meeting all LGPS employer responsibilities, including the payment of contributions and the provision of required data to the us.
Elected members will hold separate pension accounts for each eligible body that pays them an allowance or salary directly, however, the elected member must make a separate election to each relevant authority to join the LGPS.
Please note that the East Midlands Combined County Authority is a participating employer in the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund, which is its LGPS administering authority.
Membership of the LGPS must commence from the first day of the pay period following the election being made. Membership cannot be backdated.
Elected members who wish to join the LGPS should complete the option form, attached to our Councillors webpage, and return it to you.
You will then need to enrol the elected member into the scheme in the next pay period.
Notifying Derbyshire Pension Fund
We are in the process of configuring i-Connect (our member data submission portal) for authorities who have elected members that join the LGPS. We will email you to confirm when this is complete.
In the meantime, you will need to securely submit S1 starter forms for new elected members to pensions.tech@derbyshire.gov.uk.
Please ensure the elected members ‘title’ is Cllr on the starter form, and you have used the specified Councillor employer code for your authority, so we can assign their new pension record to the correct location on our system.
Once we’ve received the completed starter form, we will create the elected member’s pension record and send them a starter pack through the post (or through My Pension Online if they’ve previously registered).
Contributions
An elected member’s employee contribution rate is set and reviewed in the same way as for other scheme members, based on annual pensionable pay. However, pensionable pay is defined differently for elected members.
Similarly, the employer contribution rate is the same for elected members as it is for non-elected members employed by that authority.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there should be no need for our actuary to certify a separate rate for elected members or produce a new rates and adjustments certificate. A new employer contribution rate would only be expected where the number of elected members joining the LGPS is likely to result in a significant change in liabilities, which is unlikely to be the case.
Pensionable pay
Elected members are not paid a salary or wage in the usual employment sense as they are office holders, rather than employees. Instead, they receive allowances and, in the case of certain elected mayors who have executive powers, a salary determined under their authority’s remuneration scheme.
The LGPS Regulations use a separate definition of pensionable pay for elected members.
For elected members, pensionable pay is the total of the following amounts paid under the authority’s approved remuneration scheme:
- basic allowances
- special responsibility allowances
- relevant allowances
- any salary paid (where applicable)
‘Relevant allowance’ means an allowance paid under a combined authority establishment order or combined county authority establishment regulations except travel and subsistence allowances. Travel and subsistence allowances are not pensionable.
The remuneration scheme must be established under the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.
Assumed Pensionable Pay (APP)
APP applies to elected members in a similar same way to non-elected members, with modifications to reflect the status of a scheme member who has been elected instead of being employed.
APP applies when an elected member:
- is unable to carry out the full responsibilities of their office due to sickness or injury, and they receive reduced or no pensionable pay
- is on reserve forces leave and elects to remain an LGPS member.
More information on how APP works when a member takes reserve forces leave, can be found in the HR guide on the Employer resources page of lgpsregs.org
APP does not apply in relation to child related leave (for example, maternity leave) as elected members are not employees.
Contributions
- The elected member pays contributions on any pensionable pay actually received during a period of absence
- The employer pays contributions based on the amount of APP. This is the same as for non elected members.
APP is normally based on pensionable pay received in the three complete months before the reduction or cessation of pay (or the start of reserve forces leave).
When calculating APP
- payments which do not relate to that three complete months period should be treated as a non-regular lump sum and removed from the calculation
- any regular lump sum payments in the preceding 12 months should be added back into the APP figure
- if the pay in the three month period is materially lower than the pay they would normally receive, the employer has the discretion to use a higher pay in the APP calculation.
The employer must have regard to the pensionable pay the member received over the previous 12 months when determining what the normal level of pensionable pay is.
Elected member APP and ill health retirement
- Where an elected member is awarded a Tier 1 or 2 ill health pension, APP is used to calculate any ill health enhancement.
- If an Independent Registered Medical Practitioner (IRMP) certifies that the elected member has reduced responsibilities wholly or partly due to the condition that caused or contributed to the ill health retirement, no account is to be taken of any reduction in pensionable pay when calculating the APP.
- Where a Council is already obtaining an IRMP certificate to assess eligibility for ill health retirement, they should also request confirmation of whether any reduction in responsibilities was wholly or partly due to the same condition. This enables APP to be calculated consistently and in line with the intent of the regulations.
Elected member APP and death in service
- APP must be provided to Derbyshire Pension Fund where an elected member dies ‘in service’ (i.e. during their term in office) to enable the Fund to calculate the appropriate survivor’s benefits.
- If an IRMP certifies that an elected member’s reduced responsibilities at the date of their death was wholly or partly because of the condition that caused or contributed to their death, any reduction in pensionable pay due to the reduction in hours should be ignored in the calculation of APP.
50/50 section
Elected members who have joined the LGPS have the same option as other LGPS members to pay reduced contributions by opting to move to the 50/50 section of the scheme.
Whilst elected members cannot be automatically enrolled into the LGPS (they must make a written election to join), any elected members who decide to move to the 50/50 section must be automatically moved back into the main section of the scheme from the beginning of the first pay period following either:
- the employer’s automatic re-enrolment date, or
- going on to no pay due to sickness or injury (provided the member remains on no pay at the start of that pay period)
The automatic re-enrolment date is used only as a trigger for moving members from the 50/50 section back to the main section of the scheme.
It does not mean that elected members who have not joined the LGPS are automatically enrolled into the scheme. Apart from being a trigger for restoring elected members back to the main scheme from the 50/50 scheme, automatic enrolment does not apply in respect of elected members.
Additional Pension Contributions (APCs)
Elected members can buy additional pension and buy back lost pension through an APC contract.
However, LGPS employers cannot contribute towards an APC for elected members, except where they relate to a Qualifying Additional Pension Arrangement (QAPA).
If the absence in respect of the QAPA lasts for more than 36 months, the employer must contribute for the first 36 months and has the discretion to contribute for the remaining period.
LGPS employers cannot award additional pension to an elected member.
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
Elected members can pay AVCs. However, they can only enter a shared cost additional voluntary contribution arrangement (SCAVC) where it is a salary sacrifice SCAVC.
The amount that an employer can contribute towards a salary sacrifice SCAVC in any pay period is limited to the amount of pensionable pay sacrificed in that period.
Accordingly, the employer cannot pay any additional amount to the salary sacrifice SCAVC in a period over and above the pensionable pay sacrificed in that period. The employer therefore cannot contribute anything extra to the member’s AVC.
As elected members do not qualify for national minimum wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, there is no requirement to ensure their salary sacrifice arrangement doesn’t reduce their remuneration below that.
End of Term of Office
When an elected member who joined the LGPS, reaches the end of their term of office, and is not immediately re-elected, the same procedure of notifying us should be applied as for non-elected members.
Re-election
Elected members and mayors are generally sworn in on the same day as their predecessor’s term of office formally ends, four days after the day of the election.
Where a member is re-elected and the LGPS employer remains unchanged, membership should be treated as continuous. Therefore, the elected member will not need to complete a new election to join the LGPS if they are instantly re-elected.
Where there is a gap of 1 day or more in membership, a new election to join the LGPS will need to be made, and a new pension account will be created upon us receiving the new starter information. The normal provisions would then apply, including additional contribution contracts ending.
Retirement
Elected members have broadly the same retirement options as other LGPS members, but with specific modifications because they are office holders rather than employees.
Redundancy and business efficiency
- Elected members cannot be dismissed by reason of redundancy or business efficiency, as these employment concepts do not apply to office holders.
Flexible retirement
- Elected members cannot reduce their hours or grade, as they do not work under a contract of employment.
Ill health retirement
- Ill health retirement applies equally to elected members as it does non-elected members.
- References to ceasing an employment should be considered for elected members, as ceasing to hold office.
Waiving actuarial reductions
- LGPS employers cannot agree to waive actuarial reductions where an elected member retires early.
Contribution return (CR1) form
You will be provided with a separate CR1 form to return monthly along with the contribution payments relating to elected members.
Due to the differences between the rules applicable to elected members and non-elected members, we must have the ability to reconcile contributions separately.
Links to useful documents