Public Servant Lifestyle

A new logo has been designed to create an updated image for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales.

The West Yorkshire Pension Fund has already adopted the new logo. Their Head of Pensions and Investments, Stuart Imeson, said: "We fully support the new LGPS logo. Like many LGPS funds, we have a strong brand image that our members recognise and trust. If it is widely used, the new LGPS logo will bring the same benefits to the scheme as a whole."

Re-Branding

This re-branding follows earlier proposed changes to the LGPS in England and Wales by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The ODPM commenced a stocktaking of the LGPS in 2001 - as part of their stewardship responsibilities for the scheme - to ensure that the scheme is operating effectively, efficiently and continues to provide value for money.

The LGPS remains secure despite a decline in final salary pension schemes in the rest of the economy. In a recent survey of LGPS members, 88% of respondents placed a high value on the Scheme as part of their remuneration package. 77% noted the advantage of a national scheme that allows transfers between local government employers without any loss of pension benefits.

In July, Sir Harry Jones, the Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) HR Executive said: "We welcome the two phase consultation process outlined in today's announcement by the ODPM. This will help in the continued efforts to simplify the complexity of the LGPS and will take forward a number of those proposals in the Government's White Paper that we endorsed in relation to the LGPS."

Proposed Changes

Phase 1 proposed a number of changes to simplify several aspects of the complex rules governing the scheme. It is intended that the statutory consultation on these proposed changes will be effective by April 2004.

Phase 2 takes forward Government policy outlined in the White Paper and Inland Revenue proposals to simplify the tax treatment of occupational pension schemes. These include the introduction of a standard normal retirement age of 65 in the public sector, increasing the earliest age of retirement from age 50 to age 55 and flexible retirement.

A third element of the stocktaking consultation papers seeks views on proposals to require each LGPS administering authority to have a Funding Strategy Statement in place by April 2005. The Statement would provide each employer participating in the LGPS Fund with a clear indication of the proposed long-term management of their Fund's liabilities linked to the actuarial valuation process undertaken every three years.

Councillor Roy Wilson, the Chair of the Local Government Pensions Committee said "The package of proposals outlined by the ODPM, including the Funding Strategy Statement, will place LGPS Funds in a better position to manage the long term funding of the scheme and make this more transparent to the employers participating in the scheme and other stakeholders. We feel the proposals will secure the long term future of this important scheme."

The Chair of the Society of Personnel Officers in Local Government (SOCPO) Recruitment and Retention Panel, Andreas Ghosh said: "The pension scheme is an important part of the total remuneration package in local government and an important motivator to retain people in our professions. The fact that it is a final salary scheme to which the employer makes a significant contribution should be vigorously promoted to ensure we remain competitive in the market place"

The logo and branding guidance for the LGPS can be viewed here.

More information available in Incentives & Rewards