Good Governance

Background

The Good Governance project was instigated by the Board to examine the effectiveness of LGPS governance models and consider enhancements to further strengthen governance standards across the LGPS. Its aim is to ensure consistent, high-quality governance and administration across the scheme.

While preliminary work occurred earlier, the project was initiated in 2019 with the Board undertaking a survey of administering authorities and then appointing Hymans Robertson to lead the review and propose improvements.

The project compromised three phases from 2019 to 2021:

• Phase I: Initial research and stakeholder engagement and draft report published.
• Phase II: The Phase II report from Hymans Robertson was published following the outcome of findings from working groups. 
• Phase III: Final report and action plan for implementation, including proposed regulatory changes and best practice published.

Recommendations

Following the final report, the Board created an action plan and wrote to the (then) Minister with a formal request to MHCLG and other bodies to implement the recommendations from the project together with an action plan for the Board which were either dependant on or regardless of the outcome of those requests.

Implementation

• The action plan contained proposals to implement the changes mainly through statutory guidance and some regulatory amendments.
• The Board and the Compliance and Reporting Committee set up working groups to refine proposals and support implementation.
• Collaboration between the Department, Board, and stakeholders

Current status

• The Board welcomed the long-awaited progress of its Good Governance recommendations when the government launched the Fit for the Future consultation in November 2024 and the subsequent government response in May 2025. However, the Board in its response to the consultation noted that the consultation was fairly high-level and there were some missing key recommendations that featured in the Board’s original action plan.
• The Board has a working group under the Compliance and Reporting Committee which has met regularly to discuss the implementation of the Good Governance recommendations as a result of the Fit for the Future consultation. The progress of the working group can be found in the Compliance and Reporting committee reports.
• In November 2025, the government launched a technical consultation seeking views on 2 draft statutory instruments including whether these effectively deliver the policy proposals set out in the government’s response to the earlier Fit for the Future consultation which also covered governance.
• In December 2025, the government launched a closed consultation on the draft statutory guidance accompanying the revised regulations. The Board’s response to both consultations are on the responses to consultations page.

Key documents

• Phase I draft report
• Phase II report
• Phase III final report
• Board action plan