Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund

There has been widespread media coverage following publication of a report from Platform and Friends of the Earth. The report highlights investment of local government pension funds in ‘fossil fuel’ companies and encourages divestment. Information was uploaded to the site UK Divest. The site allowed viewers to send templated letters to Councillors with respect to fossil fuel investments.

The Pension Fund’s response, which covers the background and a response to the three questions that form part of the templated emails being circulated, can be found on this webpage.

Any questions regarding this can be emailed to: PensionInvestments@leics.gov.uk

On the 12 February 2021 Government issued a direction disapplying the exit cap with immediate effect.

By disapplying the cap, this means the LGPS Regulations are “reintroduced” for current cases, and effectively back dates these to the 4 November 2020 (when Government first introduce the exit cap). This allows the Pension Fund to pay unreduced benefits for scheme members who retired on redundancy and efficiency grounds age 55 or over in this period (04/11/2020 to 12/02/2021), with payment of the full pension strain by the employer.

It is also important to note; the decision by Government to disapply the exit cap also includes the future potential changes that were planned for 2021.

However, also on the 12 February 2021, HM Treasury issued guidance stating; It is still vital that exit payments deliver value for the taxpayer and employers should always consider whether exit payments are fair and proportionate. HM Treasury will bring forward proposals at pace to tackle unjustified exit payments.

Because further changes are expected, the Pensions Section has had to look again at this process but for the time being, the online modeller for redundancy and efficiency estimates has been reintroduced for scheme members, allowing them to run their own estimates via the Member Self-Service Benefit Projectors.

Monday 14^th December 2020, 12.00pm

Please note due to current circumstances this meeting will be held virtually.

The Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund will hold its first virtual Annual General Meeting on Monday 14^th December at 12.00pm. The meeting is open to all members of the Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund, including active contributors, deferred members and pensioners.

The agenda for the meeting is now available which includes the Fund’s Annual Report for 2019/20: this item will include a presentation by the Director of Corporate Resources and other officers involved in the running of the Fund, followed by a moderated Q&A session and the Local Pension Board’s Annual Report.

Any Leicestershire Pension Fund Scheme member, or any member of the public, can follow proceedings at the virtual Annual General Meeting and participate in the moderated Q&A session during the live event. Please see the link below.

The meeting is being broadcast using Microsoft Teams Live Event. Further advice on accessing meetings through Teams is available from the Microsoft Support website.

A recording of the meeting will also be available for anyone unable to watch it live.

The Pensions Section has produced a statement regarding the McCloud/Sargeant judgement:

In light of the current situation with Covid-19, please be reassured that your Local Government Pension will not be affected by falls in global stock markets. Pensions are long term investments and markets will always go up and down. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a defined benefit pension arrangement. Although we invest your contributions, investment performance does not affect your pension. We work out your pension using a set calculation which reflects how long you have been a contributing member of the scheme and your salary history, and the payment of your pension is guaranteed by law.

Whilst it is expected that the vast majority of members will not be affected, please note that we are currently awaiting national guidance regarding any pension related issues that may arise should your employer decide to put you ‘on furlough’. Once this is available, a further update will be published here.

In response to the current situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Local Government Association has produced a set of FAQs for members of the LGPS (PDF 152 KB).

A change to the scheme rules has been made to provide that survivor benefits payable to a same sex spouse or a civil partner are equal those paid to the widow of a male member.

Why has the change been made?

The change has been made as a result of a Supreme Court judgment (Walker v Innopsec) which found that Mr Walker’s male spouse was entitled to the same benefits that would have been paid if Mr Walker had left a widow in an opposite sex marriage.

Why does this apply to the LGPS

The government believes that the implication of this judgment for all public service pensions schemes, including the LGPS, is that surviving civil partners or surviving same sex spouses should be provided with benefits equal to those that would be left to the widow of a male member.

When does the change take effect from?

The change is backdated to the date the civil partnerships and same sex marriages were introduced – this is 5 December 2005 for civil partnerships and 13 March 2014 for same sex marriages.

This means that where a member of the LGPS has died leaving a surviving civil partner or a same sex spouse, the survivor’s pension in payment will need to be reviewed and any additional amounts paid, where applicable. We are in the process of reviewing the impact of this change and will be contacting affected civil partners and same sex spouses in due course.

If you think this applies to your personal situation following the death of your civil partner and you have not heard from us, please contact us immediately.

The change will automatically be taken into account in survivor benefits paid to civil partners and same sex spouses in the future. .

This case was heard in the High Court on 18th January 2018. The outcome of the case effectively removes the requirement for a nomination form to be in place in order for cohabitees (who meet the other regulatory requirements) to be eligible for a partner’s pension in the LGPS. Previously the requirement to nominate a partner only existed for deaths between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014 for the LGPS in England and Wales as the necessity to nominate a co-habiting partner was removed for all deaths following the implementation of the new regulations on 1 April 2014.

If your co-habiting partner was a member of the Leicestershire County Council LGPS prior to their death, and their death took place between April 2008 and March 2014 it therefore might not have been possible to pay an ongoing pension entitlement under the legislation at the time, even if the qualifying conditions had been met because no nomination form had been completed.

If you think you could be affected and would like to discuss whether this ruling alters your own situation, please contact the Pension Section to discuss the matter further.