Age discrimination remedy (McCloud judgement)

When the Government reformed public service pension schemes in 2014 and 2015, transitional protections were introduced for older members. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that younger members of the judicial and firefighters’ pension schemes had been unlawfully discriminated against because the protections did not apply to them.  

This ruling is called the McCloud judgement, after a member of the Judicial Pension Scheme involved in the case. Because of the ruling, there will be changes to all public service pension schemes that provided transitional protection, including the LGPS.  

The changes are called the age discrimination remedy (or McCloud remedy) and are intended to remove the age discrimination found in the McCloud court case. 

In 2014, the LGPS changed from a final salary scheme (a pension based on your pay when you leave) to a career average scheme (a pension which builds up based on what you earn each year).  

Older members who were closer to retirement were protected from the changes. This means when a protected member takes their pension, the benefits payable under the career average scheme are compared with the benefits that would have been built up had the final salary scheme continued, and they receive the higher amount. This protection is called the underpin.  

To remove the McCloud age discrimination, qualifying younger members will now receive the underpin protection too. This change will come into force on 1 October 2023. Underpin protection only applies to pension built up in the remedy period, between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022. The underpin will have stopped earlier if you left the scheme or reached your final salary normal retirement age (usually 65) before 31 March 2022.  

From 1 April 2022, there is no underpin protection. Pension built up after this date is based on the career average scheme only. 

The changes may affect you if:  

• you were paying into the LGPS or another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012
• you were also paying into the LGPS between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022  
• you have been a member of a public service pension scheme without a continuous break of more than 5 years

The LGPS has also produced an online, interactive tool that will help you find out if you have been affected. Click here to try the LGPS tool

You do not need to do anything. If you qualify for underpin protection, we will work out if an addition is due to be paid to you when you take your pension. If you have already retired, we will work out if you are due an addition to your existing pension. We will do this as soon as we can after 1 October 2023.