Scheme Advisory Board Annual Review 2025/26

Chair’s introduction and reflections

I am pleased to be able to publish this second Annual Review. I wanted to start producing these annual reviews to;

• summarise the Board’s, committees’ and working groups’ activity over the past 12 months and provide a high‑level overview of how the annual budget was spent
• set out planned workstreams for the year ahead

The past 12 months have been a busy period for everyone in the LGPS community. 2025 brought large‑scale pooling reform, significant funding scrutiny during the 2025 valuation process and rising expectations around governance, transparency and accountability of the scheme. The responsibilities placed on funds and those supporting scheme governance continue to increase, with growing time commitments and expertise required to deliver scheme objectives and safeguard member outcomes. I believe we managed to rise to these challenges by keeping our shared purpose central: the efficient and effective payment of pensions. So I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who has worked so hard for scheme members at local fund and pool level.

I was really pleased to hold our first Annual Assembly in October at the Local Government Association offices with both pension committee and pension board chairs invited. On the day over 80 people attended (with a split between pension committee and board members). Feedback from attendees was really positive so we will be holding this event again later in the year along with other events specifically for pension board and pension committee members.

2026 is already shaping up to be a key implementation year for the new investment, pooling and governance regulations and guidance. The latter part of 2025 concluded with three consultations which gave the Board the opportunity to set out its own views to government.

Alongside this backdrop, significant administration work continues, including implementing the welcome benefit changes consulted on last year, getting ready for pension dashboards, continued McCloud remedy implementation and the mammoth task of delivering benefits to scheme members.

The Board’s work is supported by the time and expertise generously given by Board, committee and working group members. To show how the scheme is represented, this review includes data on Board representation, highlighting both its breadth and areas where further representation is needed. We encourage you to consider applying when vacancies arise — get involved and help shape the future of our scheme.

Engagement and participation

Engagement from administering authorities (AAs) remains essential to the effectiveness of the Board’s work. Participation in the Board’s structure spans funds of different sizes and reflects a growing recognition of the value of collaborative working and sector‑led improvement. The Board is reliant on the time, knowledge and experience contributed by funds and officers across the scheme. In total, 20 funds are currently represented across the Board’s committees and 39 funds contribute through committees and/or working groups.

All fund participation in Board, Committees, RIAG, and Working Groups

Regional distribution of funds participating in Boards, Committees, RIAG, or Working Groups

Communication refresh

As the Board marks more than ten years since its establishment, we felt it was the right moment to refresh our logo, refresh the website and set up a Board specific LinkedIn profile. In 2025, the secretariat team began this important piece of work to develop a communications policy for the Board, helping to provide clarity about who we communicate with and when. I am delighted to confirm the launch of our new website and updated logo. Please also look out for updates from us on LinkedIn. This refresh represents an exciting step forward for the Board, and we hope that throughout 2026 stakeholders will see and feel the benefits of the increased and more purposeful engagement we have planned.

Overview of the last 12 months

Many in the LGPS would describe 2025 as the year of the consultations with the government busy in its stewardship role launching consultations.  The LGPS continues to operate in an increasingly complex and demanding environment and this summary of 2025 work shows how busy it has been!

Responding to consultations and publishing scheme level information

In 2025, the Board responded to all of these consultations, to ensure that the interests our stakeholders were properly heard:

• Fit for the Future technical consultation
• Closed consultation on investment and governance guidance
• The Pensions Regulator enforcement strategy
• CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Local Authority Financial Reporting in the UK
• Access and Fairness member benefits consultation
• Access and Protections member benefits consultation
• Local Audit reform consultation
• Twelfth scheme annual report published

Statements, guidance and legal opinions

One of the statutory functions of the Board is to provide advice to funds. Sometimes we do that by setting out our considered views on key topics of discussion within the scheme and sometimes by obtaining legal opinions on behalf of funds collectively. We generally operate by consensus so we like to work by bringing different stakeholders together to try to achieve that. Examples of this include:

• Letter to Local Government Minister on Palestine Solidarity Campaign letter and position paper
• Board statement on Palestine Solidarity Campaign letter and position paper
• Board statement on management of the LGPS
• Board statement on 2025 Actuarial Valuation
• Revision to the Code of Transparency
• Funding Strategy Statement guidance
• Pooling governance and conflicts of interest
• Fiduciary duty advice commissioned from Nigel Giffin KC

Stakeholder engagement

Key to the Board’s work is bringing together the different perspectives of all those involved in the LGPS. We do that through various means, as shown below:

Board budget

The Board approved its proposed 2026/27 budget and work plan on 24 November 2025. The proposed budget is £725,000, representing a small cash increase on 2025/26 but a reduction in real terms.

The 2026/27 budget maintains core activity, with additional funding to pilot peer support, £10,000 to co‑fund further Gender Pensions Gap research and expanded events following the success of the Annual Assembly.

The Board believes the proposed budget represents strong value for money at around 33p per active member. Indicative budgets for the following two years show a downward trajectory as projects conclude, at £686,000 in 2027/28 and £682,000 in 2028/29.

Planned priorities for 2026

The Board is mindful that demand on its capacity shows no sign of reducing. Key planned workstreams expected in 2026/27 include:

• Assisting the scheme with embedding the Fit for the Future investment, pooling and governance changes
• Increased engagement with pension committee and boards
• Engagement with the Government Actuary Department (GAD) and HM Treasury on the scheme cost control and scheme cost assessment activities
• Reviewing guidance for Local Pension Boards
• Supporting implementation of the separation of pension fund accounts
• Supporting the delivery of member benefit regulatory changes relating to the outcomes of the Access and Fairness and Access and Protections consultations
• Establishing a pooling steering group
• Contributing to developing administration strategy statement guidance
• Continuing policy work on issues such as the Gender Pensions Gap, opt outs and climate risk reporting
• Publication of the Scheme Annual Report (now in its thirteenth year) and scoping of scheme-level benchmarking
• Undertaking peer support pilot events
• Closing down of the central Code of Transparency data system and launch of a new Code of Transparency framework