Local Government: Pension Funds

The government’s firm preference is for pool membership to be determined on a voluntary basis at a local level. In the Pension Schemes Bill, the government has made provision for a power to protect the Local Government Pension Scheme over the long term. The power could be used to direct an administering authority to participate in a specific pool in the event that an authority is left without a pool to participate in or that a pool’s governance intractably breaks down. The government would intend only to use this power as a backstop in these circumstances.