Left on or after 1 April 2014

The scheme’s Normal Pension Age (NPA) is linked to your State Pension Age (SPA), but you can elect to receive your LGPS benefits at any time from age 55. However, If you retire before your NPA, your pension may be reduced for early payment – please see the Early retirement factors(PDF) , calculated by Government Actuary Department (GAD).

In cases of ill health, there is no age limit.

If you left the scheme on or after 1 April 2014, your deferred benefits will be calculated on a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) basis from 1 April 2014. However, if you became a member of the scheme before this date, the benefits that you have built up to 31 March 2014 will continue to be calculated on a Final Salary basis, using your pensionable pay at your date of leaving the scheme.

Adding together the value of your Final Salary and CARE benefits will give you the total value of your deferred benefits. You will also have the option to give up part of your pension to receive tax free cash – please see the Exchanging your pension tab below for more information.

What if I started in the Scheme on or after 1 April 2014?
The ‘Final Salary’ references made within this section will NOT apply, therefore reference should only be made to the CARE Benefits and Exchanging your Pension sections.

If you joined the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) on or before 31 March 2014 and left after 1 April 2014, your membership up until 31 March 2014 will have been calculated with reference to your whole-time equivalent pensionable pay at your date of opting out or date of leaving.

Your Scheme Membership
Your membership up to 31 March 2014 will have been measured in years and days and includes any membership awarded for the transfer of previous pension rights into the scheme.

If you worked part time during these periods, your membership will have been pro-rata in line with your part time hours.

Your Final Pay
This is the amount of pensionable pay that you have received during your final year of employment i.e. 365 days back from your date of leaving.  However, it can be based on one of the previous two years, if there was a higher pensionable pay.

If you work part time, your final pay will be calculated as a whole-time equivalent.

Non-contractual overtime will NOT be included in the calculation of your final pay.

Calculating your Deferred Benefits
For membership up to 31 March 2008, benefits will be calculated at an 80th, with an automatic lump sum entitlement, equal to three times your annual pension:
Membership ÷ 80 x Final Pay = Annual Pension

For membership from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2014, benefits will be calculated at a rate of 60th, but with NO right to an automatic lump sum.
Membership ÷ 60 x Final Pay = Annual Pension

The combined total of your 80th and 60th pension will equal your total Deferred LGPS Annual pension, plus you will have an automatic lump sum for your membership before 31 March 2008.

However, you will have the option when you retire, to give up some of your pension to increase your automatic lump sum or to gain some tax free cash if you started in the scheme on or after 1 April 2008.

For your membership from 1 April 2014, your deferred benefits will be calculated on a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) basis.

While you were an active member, you will have had a Pension Account for each of your pensionable employments, which would have been credited every year with the amount of pension that you built up from 1 April to 31 March.

The amount of pension to be awarded would have been based on your actual pensionable pay, as adjusted by the 1/49th accrual rate. Your account(s) would then have accumulated and would have been revalued each April in line with the appropriate cost of living index.

Calculating the CARE Element of your Deferred Benefits
The amount of pension credited to your account every year would have been calculated as follows:
Actual Pensionable Pay from 1 April to 31 March ÷ 49 = Pension awarded

Non-contractual overtime payments would have been included in the assessment of your pensionable pay.

When you retire, you will have the option to give up some of your pension to gain a tax free lump sum – also known as Commutation. For every £1 of pension you decide to give up you will receive £12 of lump sum, (up to a maximum of 25% of the Capital Value of your benefits and in addition to any automatic lump sum entitlement that you may have in respect of your membership up to and including 31 March 2008). However, this is not compulsory and you may even wish to exchange a lesser amount than the maximum option.

When you tell us you are thinking of retiring we will send you your retirement details, which will include figures for your base pension values and the maximum additional lump sum amounts you can take.  We will also send details of how to exchange your pension for a lump sum.

If you have ever contributed to an in-house AVC arrangement, you may wish to consider using this fund to boost your LGPS benefits. Any reduction to your annual pension to give you a tax free lump sum will not reduce any Survivor’s benefits which may become payable upon your death.