Chapter 3, local government pension scheme guidance
If you’re a member or a legal personal representative of a member of a local government pension scheme, check how the public service pensions remedy (known as McCloud) could affect you.
What a Chapter 3 scheme is
A Chapter 3 pension scheme is a public service pension scheme which is either a:
- local government legacy scheme (these benefits built up on a final salary basis prior to 1 April 2015 (1 April 2014 for England and Wales))
- local government new scheme (these benefits started to build up on a career average basis from 1 April 2015 (1 April 2014 for England and Wales))
Who the remedy applies to
The remedy only applies if you have remediable service. This is (all of the following):
- where you had pensionable service on or before 31 March 2012
- where you had pensionable service under a local government new scheme or excess teacher service at any time between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022 for England and Wales, or between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 under any other new local government scheme (this is known as the remedy period)
- where you did not have a gap in pensionable service which lasted more than 5 years, which started or ended between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2015
Excess teacher service refers to the part-time employment, where a teacher has a full-time employment and a part-time employment at the same time, and the part-time employment is pensionable in the Local Government Pension Scheme.
How the remedy affects you
On 1 April 2014 (for local Government in England and Wales) and 1 April 2015 (for all other local governments) the local government legacy pension scheme changed to a local government new scheme. This changed the way benefits were calculated from final salary to career average.
If you are a protected member, you were given protection from this change, known as the underpin. This means you were given benefits based on the higher of either your:
- final salary accrual during the remedy period
- career average earnings accrual during the remedy period
If you are an unprotected member, as a result of the remedy, you will get the underpin protection. This means they will be given the higher of either your:
- final salary accrual during the remedy period
- career average earnings accrual during the remedy period
What your scheme administrator will send you
Pensions savings statement
Your pension scheme administrator will issue you with a revised pension savings statement if you:
- retired during the remedy period
- received a final salary uplift on retirement
- received a pension savings statement when you retired
If you had an annual allowance tax charge
Your tax position may have changed if your pension input amount has reduced as a result of the remedy. If you had or were close to having an annual allowance tax charge during the remedy period, you may need to review and calculate your annual allowance position.
Check if your annual allowance has been affected. If it has, you will need to calculate your tax position and make a submission to correct it.
Impact on lifetime allowance tax charges
If you had a benefit crystallisation event during the remedy period, this will not be adjusted as part of the remedy. Any new benefits will be treated as a new benefit crystallisation event.
If you want an agent to act on your behalf
You will need to give written permission if you want an agent to submit your updated information to HMRC. They will then be able to use the Calculate your public service pensions adjustments service to check any changes in your tax position and submit the information on your behalf.