You may have heard about the McCloud judgment based on a claim that members of public service pension schemes, including the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), were discriminated against when changes to the schemes were introduced from 2014.
Background
When the LGPS changed from a final salary to a career average pension scheme in April 2014, protections for older scheme members were introduced. Other public service pension schemes introduced similar protections.
Members of the Judges and Firefighters Pension schemes brought a case to the Court of Appeal. The court ruled in December 2018 that the changes introduced for older members were discriminating against other scheme members on age grounds. This ruling is often called the 'McCloud judgment'.
The next steps
Changes are being made to all public service pension schemes, including the LGPS. The reason is to remove age discrimination by introducing the same protection for younger members.
New regulations in force from 1 October 2023 confirm the changes made to the LGPS. It's expected that only a small number of scheme members will be affected.
What we'll do
We'll check the pensions of all affected members. We'll include those who are no longer actively contributing or are already receiving their pension.
What action you need to take
You don't need to do anything. We'll write to you if your pension is going to change.
If you are contacted by a third-party organisation selling a service to help you claim additional pension because of the McCloud judgment, you should not engage with them.
More information
You can find a video and more information about the McCloud remedy on the LGPS member website, including:
- What the McCloud remedy is
- Who is affected
- The key dates
- How your pension may be affected
- McCloud FAQs