Your pension will be revalued in April of each year
The annual increase to your Local Government and state pension is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as at 30 September from the previous year and is payable from the first Monday following 5 April each year. We’ll write to you each year to inform you how much your pension will increase.
Your pension will be increased if you:
- Are aged 55 or over; or
- Are receiving a survivor’s or child’s pension; or
- Retired on ill health grounds and, if you're under age 55, you meet certain criteria
If you do not fall into one of these groups, your pension will still attract the increase, but it will not be paid until your 55th birthday.
The payment of the pension increase comes from the Fund but when you reach your state retirement age, this changes as some of the increase is paid by the Government and some will continue to be paid by the Fund.
If you joined the LGPS before 6 April 2016, you were contracted out of the additional state pension which was known as the State Second Pension (S2P) and formerly known as the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). When you retire, your LGPS pension must not be less than the pension you would've received from the state scheme, so the Fund gives an undertaking to provide you with the same or greater amount of pension.
Additionally, contributory members of the LGPS between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997 built up a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) for this period. The GMP is broadly comparable to the additional state pension that you would've built up under SERPS. If you reached your state pension age before 6 April 2016, the responsibility for paying the pension increase on the GMP is taken up by the state, and this will be paid to you along with your basic State Pension. If you reach your state pension age on or after 6 April 2016, the Fund will pay the increases on your GMP.
For more information about increases, read our pension increases guide.