You can join our scheme if you're under the age of 75 and work for a local government employer or a designating body that offers membership.
Eligibility
You are eligible for membership if you're under the age 75 and:
- your contract of employment is for 3 months or more, you will be automatically enrolled into our scheme by your employer - if you have opted out, you can opt to re-join by completing the 'Pension option form' attached to this page
- your contract is for less than 3 months (including casual and relief employees) - you can opt to join by completing the 'Pension option form' attached to this page
Please note: If you're employed by a designating body, such as a town or parish council, or by a non-local government organisation which participates in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) as an admission body, you can only join if your employer nominates you for membership of the scheme.
The cost of joining the scheme
The amount of contributions you pay depends on the level of your wage and is defined by different bands.
The rate you pay is between 5.5% and 12.5%. Find more information about the current pay bands.
Extra contributions
You can choose to top up your pension by paying additional contributions.
Lower contributions
You can choose to pay less with our 50/50 scheme. This may help you to remain in the scheme in times of financial difficulty.
Opting out
Should you choose not to be a member of our fund, there may be a range of options available depending on the length of time you've been a scheme member, such as receiving a refund of your contributions, deferring your pension benefits or transferring out your pension benefits.
Please be aware that in line with government legislation, your employer must auto enrol you back into the LGPS every 3 years if you've previously opted out.
Links to useful documents