Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales - Access and Fairness

The government proposes to add reporting on the rate of opt-outs to the requirements for an Annual Report, through Regulation 57 of the 2013 LGPS Regulations. The opt-out rate published would be the total number of current employees who have opted out of the scheme, divided by the total number of current employees eligible to be a member of the LGPS, at fund level. The government will clarify the detail of this proposal, such as at what date the rate is, and if employees on contracts under 3 months are included, through updated Annual Report guidance. 

The Annual Report has been selected as the place for such reporting, because government believes that opt-out levels are sensitive to economic conditions, and so regular reporting is necessary. It is not intended for reporting on opt-outs to be onerous, and the expectation is that in line with the updated guidance, administering authorities will request from employers the total number of those eligible to participate in the scheme and the number of those that have opted-out at the time of the annual report data collection to meet this requirement.