The McCloud Judgement

On 1 April 2014 the LGPS changed from a final salary scheme to a CARE scheme. This changed the way that pension benefits are worked out. When this change happened, everyone who was already paying into the LGPS was moved over to the CARE scheme. However, those closer to retirement age were given an additional protection known as the underpin. This allowed us to calculate someone’s pension benefits after 1 April 2014 using the old final salary rules if it meant they received a higher pension. A Court of Appeal ruling in 2018 found this to be unlawful, as it favoured older members.

On 1 October 2023, amendment regulations came into force which removed the age requirement from the qualifying criteria. This means that many more people will qualify for underpin protection.

For a short overview, watch Pensions Made Simple: The McCloud remedy video

Under the revised regulations, you will qualify for underpin protection if you:

• were paying into the LGPS or another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012
• were also paying into the LGPS between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022 and were under age 65 at any point during this time
• have been a member of a public service pension scheme without a continuous break of more than 5 years

If you have more than one period of LGPS membership, you do not have to join up or ‘aggregate’ these to qualify for underpin protection.

If you have membership of another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012, you will not have to transfer that membership to the LGPS to qualify for underpin protection. If you haven’t already told us about earlier public sector pension scheme membership affecting your eligibility, contact us to confirm the name of the scheme and (approximate) service dates.

You will also be protected if you joined the LGPS after 1 April 2022 and transferred in qualifying membership from another public service pension scheme.

To find out if you qualify, you can use the ‘Am I affected tool’ on the national LGPS member website.

Anyone who qualifies is entitled to have their pension built up between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022 calculated using final salary rules if it results in a higher figure than it would have using CARE rules.

We need to put everyone in the position they would have been had these regulations previously applied. This will mean checking membership details for everyone who would have qualified, including those that have left the scheme, retired, transferred out or died.

If this results in a higher pension, and your pension is already in payment, we will pay you the difference. If it doesn’t result in a higher pension, you will not be contacted and your pension will continue being paid as normal. Your pension will not decrease. If you haven’t taken your pension yet, we will perform this calculation when you retire.

We will also apply the protection where someone who would have qualified has transferred out of the scheme, has died or is receiving a survivor’s pension from someone who would have qualified.

It’s important to note that in most cases, it will not be beneficial to have your pension worked out using final salary rules. If you are one of the few who would be better off, the increase is unlikely to be substantial.

For more information, see the ‘What happens if’ section of the national LGPS member website.

The Government has prepared a leaflet called ‘The McCloud judgement and your LGPS pension’ which summarises the key changes. You can also find the answers to many frequently asked questions on the national LGPS member website.

We are still working on implementing the regulations to check members' eligibility and any potential differences in pension value.

You do not need to take any action. This is a very big project and it will take us some time to check everyone’s pension.

If you are an active or deferred member, we will include information on whether or not you qualify for underpin protection, and whether this is likely to affect your pension, in your 2025 Annual Benefit Statement. We will issue this by 31 August 2025.

Any transfer payments made since 1 October 2023 have had McCloud checks carried out. Any retirements or deaths calculated from 4 August 2025 will have had McCloud checks carried out. If you are a protected pensioner, we will write to you separately if your pension is due to increase.