The annual change to the contributions bands for employees in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has been announced.  

Employers will need to decide which bands employees should be allocated to and inform them of this.

These bands take effect from 1 April 2024. Employers can also change an employee's contribution rate during the course of the year. 

Employees need to be informed in writing of the decision to allocate them to a particular band and of their right to appeal this decision under the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure.  

Generally speaking, the band that an employee is allocated to will be uncontroversial but backdated pay awards or re-grading can complicate matters where they mean that an employee's pay changes bands during the course of the year, sometimes more than once to take account of a lump sum back-payment.  Employers are not required to change the band automatically but have discretion about whether to do so in these circumstances.  

It's also worth noting that what counts as pensionable pay is set out in the regulations governing the LGPS, so not all pay will necessarily count.

For help with this and other LGPS-related queries, contact Doug Mullen or Lauren Broderick.