CARE revaluation
Your pension scheme is a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme. As an active member paying into the scheme, your pension is ‘revalued’ each year.
The amount your pension is worth changes (or is revalued) based on inflation to keep up with the cost of living. For LGPS members, CARE revaluation only applies to CARE benefits you built up from 1 April 2014.
The amount that your pension is revalued by is different depending on your scheme.
- For LGPS members, your pension is revalued in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI)* usually on 6 April every year.
- For 2015 Police Scheme members, your pension is revalued in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1.25% usually on 1 April every year.
- For 2015 Firefighters’ Scheme members, your pension is revalued in line with the Average Weekly Earnings Index usually on 1 April every year.
The information above applies if you are currently in a CARE pension scheme. If you retired on or after 1 April 2023, these rates will apply to the time you were actively paying into the scheme. If you’re a member of a Police or Firefighter scheme, you might also find our Remedy pages useful.
*Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The Consumer Price Index CPI) is the official measure of inflation based on hundreds of different goods and services, the prices of which are tracked throughout the year.
How CARE revaluation works
In the LGPS, 1/49 of your pensionable pay is put into your pension account and revalued in line with the CPI every year. The total pension at the end of each year becomes the opening balance of your pension for the next year.
| Scheme year | Opening balance | Pensionable pay | Pension account | Revaluation rate (CPI) | Total pension |
| Year 1 (2020/21) | £0.00 | 1/49 x £24,500 = £500 | £500 in account at 31 March 2021 | + 0.5% = £2.50 | £502.50 |
| Year 2 (2021/22) | £502.50 | 1/49 x £25,235 = £515 | Add to year 1 total = £1017.50 in account at 31 March 2022 | + 3.1% = £31.54 | £1,049.04 |
| Year 3 (2022/23) | £1,049.04 | 1/49 x £25,992.05 = £530.45 | Add to years 1 & 2 total = £1579.49 in account at 31 March 2023 | + 10.1% = £159.53 | £1,739.02 |
In the 2015 Firefighters’ Scheme, 1/59.7 of your pensionable pay is put into your pension account and revalued in line with the Average Weekly Earnings Index (AWE) every year. The total pension at the end of each year becomes the opening balance of your pension for the next year.
| Scheme year | Opening balance | Pensionable pay | Pension account | Revaluation rate (CPI) | Total pension |
| Year 1 (2015/16) | £0.00 | 1/59.7 x £29,850 = £500 | £500 in account at 31 March 2021 | 0.0% | £500 |
| Year 2 (2016/17) | £500 | 1/59.7 x £30,447 = £510 | Add £510 to year 1 total = £1010 in account at 31 March 2022 | + 3% = £15 | £1,025 |
| Year 3 (2017/18) | £1,025.00 | 1/59.7 x £1,025.00 = £519.26 | Add £519.26 to years 1 & 2 total = £1544.26 in account at 31 March 2023 | + 4% = £41 | £1,585.26 |
In the 2015 Police Scheme, 1/55.3 of your pensionable pay is put into your pension account and revalued in line with the CPI (plus 1.25%) every year. The total pension at the end of each year becomes the opening balance of your pension for the next year.
| Scheme year | Opening balance | Pensionable pay | Pension account | Revaluation rate (CPI) | Total pension |
| Year 1 | £0.00 | 1/55.3 x £21,000 = £379.75 | £379.75 in account | + £12.34 | £392.09 |
| Year 2 | £392.09 | 1/55.3 x £21,210 = £383.54 | Add £383.54 to year 1 total = £775.63 in account | + £25.21 | £800.84 |
| Year 3 | £800.84 | 1/55.3 x £21,422 = £387.38 | Add £519.26 to years 1 & 2 total = £1,188.22 in account | + £38.62 | £1226.84 |
