Joining

If you are considering joining the LGPS please contact your employer's Payroll Section or Human Resource department to find out if you qualify to join.

The LGPS covers Local Government and other organisations that have chosen to participate in it. It is a national scheme whose rules apply throughout England and Wales, broken down into regional Funds so it is administered at a more local level. The administration of the LGPS in this area is carried out by South Tyneside Council and the Fund is called the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund.

The LGPS allows members to save while they are working in order to enjoy a pension once they retire. It is one of the best occupational pension schemes in the UK. What's more, the LGPS is provided by employers who meet a large part of the cost of providing the excellent range of secure benefits, so it's an extremely valuable and important part of a member's employment package.

Employers are required by law to enrol certain types of workers into a workplace pension scheme if they are not already in one. This is called 'auto-enrolment'.

Workers can opt out if they wish to, see opting in / out and auto enrolment.

LGPS benefits

The LGPS provides a guaranteed package of benefits which are backed by law including:

• a secure pension - payable for life that increases with the cost of living
• tax free cash - the option to exchange part of your pension for a tax-free lump sum at retirement
• voluntary early retirement - from age 55 (even though the scheme's normal pension age is the same as your State pension age but with a minimum of age 65). Benefits drawn before normal pension age may be reduced for early payment
• ill-health cover - if you have to retire due to illness you could receive immediate benefits which may be based on an enhanced period of scheme membership
• redundancy cover - with the early payment of pension benefits if you are made redundant or retired on business efficiency grounds at 55 or over 
• life cover - with a lump sum of three times your final pay if you die in service
• cover for my family upon my death - including a survivor's pension for your husband, wife, civil partner or nominated cohabiting partner as well as children's pensions

LGPS help videos

The 'Pensions Made Simple' videos on the LGPS member website give further information about LGPS and are available to view at LGPS: Videos - Pensions Made Simple.

There are seven videos in total with English and Welsh versions available for all.

To encourage more people to save for their retirement, UK legislation requires all employers to enrol their workers into a pension at work if they are not already in one. The aim is to help more people have another income, on top of the State Pension, when they retire.

This is called auto enrolment and it is your employer's responsibility.

The date when your employer has to enrol workers depends on the size of your organisation. Your employer will give you the exact date nearer the time.

The LGPS is a qualifying pension scheme for auto enrolment purposes. This means it meets the Government's standards.

If you are a new employee, your employer offers LGPS membership and you qualify then, you will be automatically enrolled into the LGPS from day one. This is known as Contractual Enrolment.

Opting out

You can opt out of LGPS if you want to. However, if you stay in you will have your own pension which you get when you retire.

Please note, you must first be enrolled into the LGPS before you can opt out. This is a legal requirement. Also your employer must not encourage you to opt out.

If you decide to opt out of membership of the LGPS you will need to complete our Opt out form and return it to your employer.

Please note, if you opt out of the LGPS after meeting the 2 year vesting period you will be entitled to deferred benefits within the Scheme.

You will generally have the same options as anyone leaving their job before retirement, however, you will only be able to access your deferred benefits from age 55 as long as you have left this job.

If you decide to opt back into the Scheme you will not be permitted to join the two periods of membership together and your benefits will remain separate. This will have an impact on the benefits you are able to access should you leave work on redundancy or ill health grounds.

Whatever your reasons for considering opting out of the LGPS, we ask that you give this matter careful consideration before making a final decision. You may wish to take financial advice on this matter. Please read the notes and declaration before signing the form.

Opting in

If you have previously opted out of the LGPS, then decide you want  to opt back in, you can do so as long as you are eligible to join. If you wish to make an election to join, you will need to complete our Opt in / re-join form and return it to your employer.

To find out more about what enrolment into a workplace pension means for you, and the benefits of staying enrolled,visit GOV.UK: Workplace pension

Re-enrolment 

If your employer offers LGPS membership and you qualify but have opted out, depending on your age and earnings, you will be automatically enrolled back into the LGPS.

Automatic re-enrolment will take place every three years after your employer's initial auto enrolment date.

If you have previously opted out, you will automatically be brought back into the LGPS on the re-enrolment date. You may opt out again if you wish to do so. However, if you stay in you will have your own pension which you get when you retire.

You can also re-join the 50/50 scheme as an alternative. For more information on the 50/50 scheme, see paying less.

Whichever enrolment category you fall into your employer will write to you with all of the information you need. If you want to know more about the benefits of the LGPS please view our scheme booklets.

If you are rejoining the LGPS, you may have a decision to make about whether or not to combine the pension account relating to your earlier employment with your current active account. This also applies if you have had more than one job in which you are a member of the LGPS, and have left one of those employments while continuing in the other.

The options available to you depend on your benefit entitlement in your first employment, and the dates you paid into the Scheme.

Rejoining the LGPS

The documents below outline the options available, together with things to consider before you make any decision. The document is split into sections depending on circumstances.

Please see the circumstances that relate to you:

1. You are an LGPS member in more than one employment. You leave one employment with an entitlement to a deferred refund, and continue in your other employment(s). All membership is after 31 March 2014, or treated such. 
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 1 (PDF) [91KB]
2. You left an employment with an entitlement to a deferred refund. All membership is after 31 March 2014, or treated as such. You have now rejoined the LGPS. 
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 2 (PDF) [92KB]
3. You are an LGPS member in more than one employment. You leave one employment with an entitlement to a deferred benefit, and continue in your other employment(s). All membership is after 31 March 2014, or treated as such.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 3 (PDF) [113KB]
4. You left employment after 31 March 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred benefit. All membership is after 31 March 2014, or treated as such. You have now rejoined the LGPS.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 4 (PDF) [112KB]
5. You are an LGPS member in more than one employment. You leave one employment after 31 March 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred refund, and continue in your other employment(s) You were in the Scheme on both the 31 March and 1 April 2014.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 5 (PDF) [97KB]
6. You left employment after 31 March 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred refund. You were in the Scheme on both 31 March and 1 April 2014, and have now rejoined the LGPS without a continuous break in active membership of a public service pension scheme of more than 5 years since leaving the first employment.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 6 (PDF) [95KB]
7. You are an LGPS member in more than one employment. You left one employment with an entitlement to a deferred benefit, and continue in your other employment(s). You were in the Scheme on both the 31 March and 1 April 2014.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 7 (PDF) [123KB]
8. You left employment after 31 March 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred benefit. You were in the Scheme on both 31 March and 1 April 2014, and have now rejoined the LGPS without a continuous break in active membership of a public service pension scheme of more than 5 years since leaving the first employment.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 8 (PDF) [125KB]
9. You left employment after 31 March 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred benefit. You were in the Scheme on both 31 March and 1 April 2014, and have now rejoined the LGPS having had a continuous break in active membership of a public service pension scheme of more than 5 years since leaving the first employment.
   See,  Aggregation Leaflet 9 (PDF) [135KB]
10. You left employment before 1 April 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred refund, and have now rejoined the LGPS.
    See,  Aggregation Leaflet 10 (PDF) [91KB]
11. You left employment before 1 April 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred benefit. You have now rejoined the LGPS without a continuous break in active membership of a public service pension scheme of more than 5 years since leaving the first employment.
    See,  Aggregation Leaflet 11 (PDF) [222KB]
12. You left employment before 1 April 2014 with an entitlement to a deferred benefit. You have now rejoined the LGPS having had a continuous break in active membership of a public service pension scheme of more than 5 years since leaving the first employment.
    See,  Aggregation Leaflet 12 (PDF) [212KB]

Aggregation leaflet glossary (PDF) [158KB]

If you have any queries or require any further information, please contact us. We are unable to offer financial advice, but we can discuss your options with you. You may wish to seek independent financial advice before making any decision.

You can obtain information on a wide range of financial topics, including how to go about finding a financial adviser, from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This is an independent organisation responsible for regulating financial services in the UK.

You can transfer your previous pension rights in most, but not all cases - but there are time limits associated with this and a transfer of your previous benefits can only proceed when:

• the value of your previous pension rights has been obtained by yourself and forwarded to TWPF
• you have been notified by us of the membership or CARE pension that the transfer will buy in the LGPS and
• you have made a written election that you want the transfer to go ahead

Transferring previous pension rights from outside of the LGPS

If you have joined the Fund within the last 12 months and wish to consider transferring previous pension rights from outside of the LGPS, please follow the guidance in the table below:-

If you joined the Fund more than 12 months ago you may be able to ask your employer to extend your permission to transfer, depending on your circumstances. You must complete Transfer form D to seek this extension.

You can use Transfer Form D if:

• You started with the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund on or after 1 April 2014, regardless of where your previous pension rights are held or
• You started with the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund on or before 31 March 2014 and want to transfer pension rights from a scheme outside of the LGPS in England and Wales.

You cannot use Transfer Form D if you started on or before 31 March 2014 and want to transfer pension rights from another LGPS fund in England and Wales.

If you apply to your employer for an extension, your employer has absolute discretion to allow the transfer to proceed (providing you have not already left this employment). Your employer must be fair and consistent in applying their policy.

Please note that you cannot transfer a pension credit into the LGPS.

For more information of transferring your previous pension rights, see LGPS member: Transferring in.

Transferring pension rights into the LGPS (PDF) [226KB]  - Details of the procedure and time limits to transfer previous pension rights into the Scheme