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In addition to your local government pension, you may also qualify for a state retirement pension paid by the government from State Pension age (SPa).

A new single tier, flat rate State Pension has been introduced for people who reach their SPa on or after 6 April 2016. It replaced the basic and additional State Pension that is payable to people who reached their SPa before 6 April 2016.

You will be able to claim the new State Pension when you reach SPa if you are:

  • a man born on or after 6 April 1951
  • a woman born on or after 6 April 1953
  • and, normally, have at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record.

If you were born before the dates above, the GOV.UK website has more details about your State Pension.

If you don't know when you will reach SPa, you can check by using the government's online State Pension age calculator.

You should be aware that, as a member of the LGPS, if you're eligible for the new State Pension you might not receive the full amount. This is because as a member of the LGPS you are likely to have paid a lower amount of National Insurance in previous years.

See the GOV.UK website for more details about the new State Pension.