Pension Committee Chairs discussion with Scheme Advisory Board Chair Cllr Roger Phillips
Cllr Roger Phillips, Chair of the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales, will host a discussion with Pensions Committee Chairs on the strategic direction of the Scheme.
Following similar meetings held last year, this session will provide an opportunity for Committee Chairs to engage directly with the Board and share updates. The Local Government Minister, Alison McGovern MP, has been invited to provide an update.
The meeting will take place virtually via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 17 March 2026 from 5.00pm to 6.30pm.
Please note that the meeting takes place shortly before upcoming Local Government elections in some areas. We appreciate this may be a particularly busy period for many, but we hope Committee Chairs are able to join. The agenda will be circulated closer to the meeting date.
The Board is today publishing this updated summary statement on the management of the LGPS and how it is being managed for the future.
The Board welcomes the government’s part response to the Access and Protections consultation, specifically relating to restoring access to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for elected members and extending it to mayors. The Board supported this proposal in its own consultation response, recognising both the important public service these roles fulfil and the significant responsibilities they now carry. The Board also welcomes the decision to bring England in line with the established arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, helping ensure consistency and fairness for elected members across the UK.
In addition, the Board notes the government’s pragmatic intention to introduce these changes from May 2026. It should also be acknowledged that administering authorities are already preparing for substantial reforms under the Fit for the Future programme, due to take effect from April 2026. The Board would encourage the government to provide clarity as soon as possible on its position regarding the remaining elements of the consultation covering Normal Minimum Pension Age, academies in the LGPS, and the introduction of a new Fair Deal so that administering authorities and employers can prepare effectively for the full scope of regulatory change.
The Board’s 2025/26 Annual Review is now available. It provide a clear overview of the Board’s work over the past year and setting out its key priorities to support the LGPS in the 12 months ahead.
The Scheme Advisory Board welcomes the Government response to the Access and Fairness consultation and specifically the announcement on reforms to tackle the gender pension gap (GPG) in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
The Board is proud to have been the first public sector pension scheme to commission a scheme-level GPG report and to propose scheme‑level changes aimed at improving outcomes for women in the LGPS. This early work has helped shape understanding of the GPG in the LGPS and has informed policy discussions leading to the reforms.
While these announcements mark meaningful progress, the Board recognises that further work is still needed to close the gender pensions gap fully and therefore will continue its programme of analytical work and engagement with stakeholders to support fair and sustainable pension outcomes for all LGPS members. We look forward to working closely with the Government, administering authorities (AA) and other stakeholders to ensure these reforms are implemented, with necessary guidance in place to support AAs and continue to build on the Board’s already established work.
Over the last nine months, the Board has undertaken a project to update its website and refresh its branding to improve user experience and accessibility, and to better reflect the growth of the boards work over the last decade and its future vision.
We are pleased to confirm that the new website will be going live on Monday 26 January 2026. While we do not expect any major disruption, there may be periods during Monday when the website is temporarily unavailable.
The website address will remain the same: https://lgpsboard.org/ so you will not need to amend what we hope is included in your favourites or bookmarks.
We hope that the new website and branding will make it easier to navigate with a new search function to help you identify both new and existing materials, while also increasing stakeholder engagement with the Board’s work. We would welcome any early feedback as you get used to the new site over the next few weeks.
All relevant, existing content will still be shown, so you will still be able to access past news items, guidance documents and consultation responses. The Secretariat will continue to update the website over the coming weeks and months, including building up relevant archived content. If there are any pages you wish to access but cannot find on the new site, please contact [email protected].
The Board would also like to thank Landscape (Wealth at Work) for their work on this project.
The Board is inviting expressions of interest for the position of pensions policy advisor. This role was previously held by Joe Dabrowski, who stepped down from the Board following his departure from Pensions UK.
The Board is now looking for a pensions policy practitioner with substantial knowledge of the LGPS to attend the Board as an advisor. The successful candidate will be expected to attend and contribute to the three Board meetings each year and provide their insight and perspective to its discussions based on their experience of the LGPS and the wider pensions industry.
This will be a voluntary role, and the appointment will be made in a personal capacity as opposed to appointing an organisation. The Board also receives expert advice from other advisors (such as its actuarial advisor and legal advisor), who attend the meetings in a similar capacity.
If you are interested in this role, please submit no more than 500 words to the SAB Secretariat covering the below points by 5pm on 11 February 2025.
- Please describe how your experience demonstrates an up-to-date understanding of the LGPS.
- What is your understanding of how the Scheme Advisory Board’s work contributes to the governance and development of the LGPS?
- Which areas of LGPS-related work are of particular interest to you as a practitioner, and why?
- Please outline your engagement with the LGPS, including any boards, committees, or groups you are currently part of or support.
The Secretariat may have further questions once the team has reviewed expressions of interest. The Chair of the Board will make a recommendation based on the expressions of interest received and the Board collectively will ultimately approve the appointment to the role. We would ideally be seeking to do this before the Board meets again on 23 March 2026. Once appointed, the Secretariat will also invite the successful person to a short introductory meeting before attending their first meeting.
Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing [email protected].
The Board has agreed its response to MHCLG’s closed consultation on the draft statutory guidance accompanying the revised Pooling, Management and Investment of funds and LGPS Amendment regulations.
Although a closed consultation, the Board’s response is being shared publicly for transparency with LGPS stakeholders. The Board will also be providing detailed comments directly to MHCLG.
The response provides technical comments on each of the draft guidance documents, as well as an overall view on the implementation challenges posed by multiple overlapping reforms.
If you would like to discuss this response, please contact the SAB secretariat team.
In November 2025, the Board published an article in LGPC Bulletin 270 to invite expressions of interest in a vacancy for a legal advisor on the Board. This further request for information is now being published to identify the most suitable candidate for the role.
We are looking for an experienced legal practitioner with substantial knowledge of the LGPS. The successful candidate will attend Board meetings and provide legal insight and perspective to its discussions. They will not be asked to provide formal legal opinions as we will continue to procure these as needed on specific issues separately and in line with the Board’s procurement policy.
This will be a voluntary role, and the appointment will be made in a personal capacity as opposed to appointing an organisation.
The Board also receives expert advice from other advisers (such as its actuarial advisor and pensions policy advisor), who attend the meetings in the same capacity.
If you are interested in this role, please submit no more than 500 words to the SAB Secretariat covering the below points by 5pm on 26 January 2025.
- Please describe how your experience demonstrates an up-to-date understanding of the LGPS.
- What is your understanding of how the Scheme Advisory Board’s work contributes to the governance and development of the LGPS?
- Which areas of LGPS-related work are of particular interest to you as a practitioner, and why?
- Please outline your engagement with the LGPS, including any boards, committees, or groups you are currently part of or support.
The Secretariat may have further questions once the team has reviewed expressions of interest. The Chair of the Board will make a recommendation based on the expressions of interest received and the Board will ultimately approve the appointment to the role. We would ideally be seeking to do this before the Board meets again on 23 March 2026. Once appointed, the Secretariat will also invite the successful person to a short introductory meeting before attending their first meeting.
Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing [email protected].
The Board’s response to the Fit for the Future – technical consultation has been published.
To ensure transparency and to assist Administering Authorities prepare their own responses, the Secretariat had published a draft response prior to final Board approval.
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