Official Statistics

Local government pension scheme funds for England and Wales: 2023 to 2024

Updated 28 November 2024

Applies to England and Wales

This statistical release contains information on Local Government Pension Scheme Funds expenditure, income, and membership for the financial year 2023-24 in England and Wales.

1. In this release:

• Total Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) expenditure in England and Wales in 2023-24 was £17.1 billion. This is an increase of £1.8 billion, or 11.9% compared to 2022-23. This was mainly due to an increase in expenditure on pensions and annuities.
• Total LGPS income in England and Wales in 2023-24 was £20.7 billion. This is an increase of £3.3 billion or 19.3% compared to 2022-23, mainly due to an increase in employers’ contributions.
• Employers’ Contributions to the LGPS in 2023-24 in England and Wales amounted to £10.5 billion, an increase of 24.6%. This reflects early payments made by employers following the triennial review. Employees’ contributions to the scheme were £3.0 billion, an increase of 8.3%.
• The market value of LGPS funds at end of March 2024 was £391.5 billion, an increase of £32.4 billion or 9.0% compared to the end of March 2023.
• There were 99,505 retirements from the LGPS in 2023-24, an increase of 5,925 or 6.3% compared to 2022-23.

Release date: 24 October 2024
Date of next release: October 2025
Contact: 0303 444 2141 / sf3.statistics@communities.gov.uk (Responsible Statistician: Jo Coleman)
Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / NewsDesk@communities.gov.uk

2. Introduction

This release has been compiled by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and provides information on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds in England and Wales that were collected on the SF3 (Pensions) 2023-24 form. Forms were submitted by all 86 Administering Authorities in relation to 87 funds. This covers all members of the LGPS including the Environment Agency, who are counted twice because they have an active fund and a legacy closed fund. Although the Environment Agency is not a local government body, they are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme. Since the 2022-23 data collection exercise, they have provided data to MHCLG on a voluntary basis. Their data are included in the figures shown in Tables 1 to 5, so data prior to 2022-23 and 2022-23 onwards are not directly comparable.

Authorities were asked, where possible, to submit their data based on audited accounts. However, due to ongoing delays to local authority audits, 73 funds’ SF3 form data were submitted based on their authority’s provisional accounts. Authorities will be asked to submit revised figures based on their audited figures, if significantly different, at a later date.

This release shows data for England and Wales combined. Tables 1-6 of this release are available for England and Wales separately. As the Environment Agency’s funds cover both England and Wales they have been excluded from the England only and Wales only tables.

The SF3 (Pensions) form collects information on Local Government Pension Scheme funds’ income, expenditure, membership, retirements, and other activities. It also shows other associated information for the financial year 2023-24 and changes over previous years.

When looking at the figures in this release it should be remembered that throughout the year there are always staff transferring their pensions into, and out of, the LGPS because they either commence work for an employer who is a member of the LGPS and bring their accrued pension with them, or they move to another employer and take their pension pot with them.

In addition, there will be occasions where staff transfer between LGPS schemes and so there will also be transfers between funds within the LGPS.

For the first time in 2023-24, more detailed data on investments has been collected on the SF3 form. This year it has been on a voluntary basis, with 81 of the 86 authorities providing data. These figures are not included in this release as we continue to validate the data but will be published as a separate table in due course.

3. Special factors affecting the data

Since 2019-20 there has been one large transfer between funds and one fund merger that have resulted in increases in the Transfer Values shown in both Table 1 and Table 2 below. These can sometimes make direct comparisons with both previous and subsequent years inappropriate. In this release, break marks (shown in the tables by two vertical lines) indicate that direct comparisons should not be made.

3.1 2019-20

On the 1 April 2019, the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund merged into the West Midlands Pension Fund, as per SI 2019 No. 1351. West Midlands Pension Fund reported that this accounted for £491.7 million of their transfer income figures.

3.2 2020-21

During 2020-21, the Pension Fund for Northumberland was merged into the Tyne & Wear Pension fund. The regulations (SI 2020 No. 502) came into force on the 3 June 2020 but backdated to 1 April 2020.

3.3 2023-24

In 2023-24, a transfer was made from Hillingdon Pension Fund to Wandsworth Pension Fund following a merger of two employers that had been previously contributing to each fund. This has no real effect on the aggregate figures but will be seen in the individual Pension Fund figures.

4. Expenditure: 2019-20 to 2023-24

Table 1 and Chart A provide figures of the expenditure of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

• Total LGPS expenditure in 2023-24 was £17.1 billion. This is an increase of £1.8 billion, or 11.9% compared to 2022-23. This was mainly due to an increase in expenditure on pensions and annuities.
• The expenditure on benefits in 2023-24 was £13.7 billion, an increase of 11.8%. Of this, expenditure on pensions and annuities was £11.3 billion, and expenditure on lump sums paid on retirement was £1.9 billion.
• Disposal of Liabilities was £1.2 billion in 2023-24, an increase or 30.8%, and costs charged to the funds were £2.1 billion, an increase of 3.7%.
• For England, expenditure in 2023-24 was £15.8 billion, an increase of £1.7 billion or 11.7% on 2022-23. This excludes the Environment Agency which has members in both England and Wales, as do other figures for England or Wales only.
• For Wales, expenditure in 2023-24 was £1.1 billion, an increase of £148 million or 16.3% on 2022-23.

Table 1: Local Government Pension Scheme expenditure, 2019-20 to 2023-24, England and Wales (all figures £ million)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021		2021 to 2022		2022 to 2023 [Note 1]		2023 to 2024
Total expenditure on benefits	10,919		11,083		11,541	||	12,258		13,705
Of which pensions or annuities	8,883		9,225		9,484	||	10,116		11,283
Of which lump sums paid on retirement	1,616		1,440		1,595	||	1,654		1,870
Of which lump sums paid on death	239		269		275	||	288		311
Of which optional lump sums	172		142		179	||	187		233
Of which other benefits	9		7		7	||	13		8
Disposal of liabilities	952		768		853	||	928		1,215
Of which transfer values	950		767		851	||	927		1,213
Of which pensions act premiums	1		1		2	||	2		2
Costs charged to the funds [Note 2]	1,487		1,681		2,023	||	2,048		2,124
Of which investment management expenses	1,270		1,461		1,784	||	1,769		1,829
Of which administrative expenses	142		148		169	||	179		200
Of which governance and oversight costs	74		72		71	||	100		94
Other expenditure	37		23		25	||	36		41
Total expenditure	13,395		13,555		14,441	||	15,270		17,084

[Note 1] Data from 2022-23 onwards include the Environment Agency’s funds. They are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme but not a local government body. This means data from 2022-23 and onwards is not directly comparable to prior years.
[Note 2] The total Costs charged to the funds figure for 2020-21 does not equal the sum of the component parts given in the document, ‘Pension funds data table 2020 to 2021’, due to inconsistencies in reporting by one local authority.

5. Income: 2019-20 to 2023-24

Table 2 and Chart A provide figures of the income to the LGPS in England and Wales and the market value of the scheme from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

• Total LGPS income in England and Wales in 2023-24 was £20.7 billion. This is an increase of £3.3 billion or 19.3% compared to 2022-23, mainly due to an increase in employers’ contributions.
• Employers’ Contributions to the LGPS in 2023-24 in England and Wales amounted to £10.5 billion, an increase of 24.6%, and this reflects early payments made by many employers following the triennial review. Employees’ contributions to the scheme were £3.0 billion, an increase of 8.3%.
• Investment income to the LGPS in 2023-24 in England and Wales amounted to £5.9 billion, an increase of 16.4%.
• The market value of LGPS funds at end of March 2024 was £391.5 billion, an increase of £32.4 billion or 9.0% compared to the end of March 2023.
• For England, income in 2023-24 was £19.1 billion, an increase of £3.2 billion or 19.9% on 2022-23.
• For Wales, income in 2023-24 was £1.3 billion, an increase of £130 million or 11.2% on 2022-23.

Table 2: Local Government Pension Scheme income and market value of funds, 2019-20 to 2023-24, England and Wales (all figures £ million)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021		2021 to 2022		2022 to 2023 [Note 1]		2023 to 2024
Contributions: Employees	2,326		2,441		2,558	||	2,816		3,049
Contributions: Employers [Note 2] [Note 3]	7,680		10,312		7,792	||	8,444		10,523
Investment income (gross) [Note 4]	4,404		3,711		4,499	||	5,077		5,910
Of which dividends receivable	2,384		1,827		1,965	||	2,136		2,158
Of which interest receivable	303		194		162	||	304		534
Of which income from property	660		579		660	||	686		718
Of which other investment income	1,056		1,112		1,712	||	1,952		2,500
Transfer value [Note 5]	1,507	||	816		1,019	||	951		1,130
Other income	60		43		51	||	40		59
Total income	15,977	||	17,324		15,919	||	17,328		20,672
Market value of funds at end of year	272,395		337,111		364,042	||	359,184		391,549

[Note 1] Data from 2022-23 onwards include the Environment Agency funds. They are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme but not a local government body. This means data from 2022-23 onwards is not directly comparable to prior years.
[Note 2] Includes employers’ secondary contributions
[Note 3] An increase in employer contributions is expected, reflecting early payments made by many employers following the triennial review.
[Note 4] The sum of components for investment incomes does not exactly the total reported due to rounding.
[Note 5] Transfer values for 2019-20 include a £491.7 million transfer from West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund for the merger of West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund and West Midlands Pension Fund. Please note that this £491.7million transfer appears in the income data but not the expenditure data due to the timing of the merger.

5.1 Chart A: Local Government Pension Scheme expenditure and income in 2023-24: England and Wales

Chart A shows the relative size of different components of the income and expenditure totals in 2023-24. It shows that the majority (66%) of expenditure was on pensions or annuities, and just over half of income (51%) was from employer contributions (although this is a higher proportion than in other years because of the triennial review), and investment income was a greater proportion of income than employee contributions.

6. Income and Expenditure

Table 3 and Chart B provides a comparison of total LGPS expenditure and income in England and Wales from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

• In 2023-24, total expenditure was 82.6% of LGPS income.

Table 3: Local Government Pension Scheme total expenditure and income, 2019-20 to 2023-24, England and Wales (all figures £ million)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021		2021 to 2022		2022 to 2023 [Note 1]		2023 to 2024
Total expenditure (from Table 1)	13,395		13,555		14,441	||	15,270		17,084
Total income (from Table 2)	15,977	||	17,324		15,919	||	17,328		20,672
Expenditure as a % of income	84%		78%		91%		88%		83%

[Note 1] Data from 2022-23 onwards include the Environment Agency’s funds. They are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme but not a local government body. This means data from 2022-23 and onwards is not directly comparable to prior years.

6.1 Chart B: Local Government Pension Scheme total expenditure and income 2012-13 to 2023-24, England and Wales

Chart B shows the change in income and expenditure over time since 2012-13. There is a regular peak in income every three years where employers make payments for the next three years following a triennial review.

7. Membership and Employers

7.1 Membership

Table 4 and Chart C provide figures of the membership of the LGPS in England and Wales.

• At the end of March 2024, the total membership of the LGPS was 6.7 million people. Of this number, 2.2 million are employees who still contribute to the scheme, 2.1 million are pensioners and 2.5 million are former employees who are entitled to a pension at some time in the future.

Table 4: Number of Local Government Pension Scheme members at the end of each year , 2019-20 to 2023-24, England and Wales (all figures in thousands of members)

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021		2021 to 2022		2022 to 2023 [Note 1]		2023 to 2024
Employees	2,000		1,998		2,025	||	2,103		2,155
Pensioners	1,798		1,849		1,931	||	2,022		2,098
Former employees entitled to deferred benefits	2,246		2,265		2,343	||	2,423		2,464
Flexible retirees [Note 2]	14		16		18	||	21		23
Total membership of LGPS	6,059		6,129		6,318	||	6,570		6,740

[Note 1] Data from 2022-23 onwards include the Environment Agency’s funds. They are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme but not a local government body. This means data from 2022-23 is not directly comparable to prior years.
[Note 2] Flexible retirement defined in Regulation 30(6) to the 2013 LGPS Regulations.

7.2 Chart C: Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme 2012-13 to 2023-24, England and Wales

Chart C shows the change in composition of the membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme since 2012-13.

The chart shows that all types of members have increased since 2012-13, with flexible retirees and former employees entitled to deferred benefits the largest category since 2016-17. Although numbers increased in 2023-24 for all categories, employees and pensioner numbers were closer than they were in 2022-23.

7.3 Employers

Data were collected on the type of employer involved in the LGPS. Employers were categorised into one of four groups:

• Local authorities and connected bodies – e.g. a county council, district council
• Centrally funded public sector bodies – e.g. an academy, further education corporation, sixth form college or higher education corporation
• Other public sector bodies – e.g. a National Park Authority. This includes the Environment Agency.
• Private sector, voluntary sector and other bodies – e.g. a passenger transport executive, an urban development corporation, (and private/voluntary sector organisations).

Table 5 shows the number of employers (which includes admitted bodies) in England and Wales in each of the four groups as reported by pension authorities. It also shows the number of employees, pensioners etc. that are part of the LGPS, by the type of employer.

• 71.1% (4.8 million) of all the members of the LGPS are covered by local authorities and other connected bodies, though local authorities and connected bodies represent only 16.5% of employers (with 3,478 employers).
• Private sector, voluntary sector, and other bodies account for approximately a third (33.5%) of all employers (with 7,076 employers) but are responsible for only 5.0% (336,000) of all LGPS members.
• In total, there were 21,131 employers covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme at the end of March 2024.

Table 5: Number of Local Government Pension Scheme members at the end of March 2024 by type of employer, England and Wales (employer figures unrounded, employee figures in thousands of members) [Note 1]

Employer group	Local authorities and connected bodies	Centrally funded public sector bodies	Other public sector bodies [Note 2]	Private sector, voluntary sector and other bodies	Total
Total membership of local government pension scheme (Thousands)	4,790	1,359	256	336	6,740
Of which are employees	1,346	638	88	83	2,155
Of which are pensioners	1,662	215	95	125	2,098
Of which are former employees entitled to deferred benefits	1,763	503	72	126	2,464
Of which are flexible retirees [Note 3]	18	3	1	2	23
Total Number of Employers (whole figures)	3,478	9,408	1,169	7,076	21,131

[Note 1] Data from 2022-23 onwards include the Environment Agency’s funds. They are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme but not a local government body. This means data from 2022-23 onwards are not directly comparable to prior years.
[Note 2] The Environment Agency members are counted only within ‘Other public sector bodies’.
[Note 3] Flexible retirement defined in Regulation 30(6) to the 2013 LGPS Regulations.

8. Retirements from the Local Government Pension Scheme

Table 6 and Chart D provide figures of the type of retirement from the LGPS in England and Wales from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The Environment Agency were unable to provide data on retirements, so are not included in these figures.

• There were 99,505 retirements from the LGPS in 2023-24, an increase of 5,925 or 6.3% compared with 2022-23.
• The number of employees having their deferred benefits paid early was 54,584, an increase of 2.5% on 2022-23, and account for over half (54.9%) of the total employees retiring.
• The number of people leaving the LGPS in 2023-24 due to normal retirement was 37,699, an increase of 3,976 or 11.8%.
• The number of people leaving the LGPS in 2023-24 due to redundancy remained low even though there was a small increase of 779 or 25.5% to 3,832. This was the first increase since 2013-14.

Table 6: Type of retirements from the Local Government Pension Scheme, 2019-20 to 2023-24, England and Wales [Note 1]

Year	2019 to 2020		2020 to 2021		2021 to 2022		2022 to 2023		2023 to 2024
Redundancy	7,825		5,989		5,423		3,053		3,832
Tier 1, 2 & 3 ill health retirement awards under LGPS	3,046		2,739		2,987		3,567		3,390
Early payment of deferred benefits	52,112		49,348		54,139		53,237		54,584
Normal retirements	26,023		24,860		32,168		33,723		37,699
Total retirements	89,006		82,936		94,717		93,580		99,505

[Note 1] The Environment Agency is not included in the totals because the retirement data was not available in the data provided on a voluntary basis.

8.1 Chart D: Type of retirement from the Local Government Pension Scheme, 2012-13 to 2023-24, England and Wales

Chart D shows the change over time in different types of retirements since 2012-13 until 2023-24.

The chart shows that normal retirements have generally increased year on year, apart from in 2019-20 and 2020-21. The number of early payments of deferred benefits had a step change in 2016-17 and has been relatively stable since. Redundancies had been falling since 2016-17 until 2023-24 when there was a very small increase. The number of ill-health retirements remains stable.

9. Accompanying Tables and Open Data

9.1 Symbols used

[x] = not available
[z] = not applicable
0 = zero or negligible (e.g. less than 500,000 when data are rounded to millions)

9.2 Rounding

Where figures have been rounded, there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of constituent parts.

9.3 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include Tables 1 to 6 for England and Wales separately, and data for individual pension administering authorities.

9.4 Open data

These statistics are available in fully open and linkable data formats.

9.5 Technical Notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website.

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