LGE accuses ministers of broken promises over new-look LGPS

The Local Government Employers group has criticised local government minister John Healey for failing to deliver new regulations and guidance on time.

In a letter to the minister on April 16, seen by PP, chairman of the group's local government pensions committee Trevor Jones said administering authorities, employers and software suppliers had been told they would be given at least a 12-month lead-in period to prepare for the new-look scheme.

But he said promises made after he initially raised concerns last year were not kept, and set out a catalogue of failings by the department for communities and local government over the regulations.

Jones said the LGPS (Administration) Regulations 2008, which had been promised for May 2007, and the LGPS (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2008 were not issued until February 21, 2008, only a little over five weeks before the new scheme came into effect.

He said while the benefit, membership and contribution regulations were only issued on April 4, fundamental amendments to those regulations were only received more than two weeks after the new-look scheme was introduced.

He noted that, while some guidance had been issued in February, much of the promised Government Actuary's Department advice relating to the scheme had still not materialised.

Jones said: "The late issue of regulations, uncertainties surrounding what they will say, and the lack of GAD and secretary of state guidance has caused great difficulties for administering authorities, employers, pensions administration software suppliers, the LGPC secretariat and for some scheme members, particularly those recently retired on the grounds of ill health, where the employer and the administering authority had not been able to confirm what benefit the member was entitled to."

A DCLG spokesman said: "We will consider carefully the concerns raised in this letter, and will respond in due course.

"We have worked closely with the LGE, the LGA, councils and unions over the past three years on reform of the LGPS, to ensure it is equipped to deal with the joint challenges of an ageing population and increasing life expectancy on an affordable and sustainable basis.

The spokesman added: "The new pension scheme, which came into force on April 1, provides improved benefits for members while costing councils less.

"All the necessary regulations to allow the new scheme to operate are in place, and we worked closely with the pension administration software providers to ensure that the new scheme can be implemented as smoothly as possible.

"Indeed Heywood, the major software provider, announced themselves in April how successful this joint working had been in developing their product, a view endorsed by pension managers. The department has also provided a detailed commentary on the new regulations to complement the guidance and training events provided by LGE."

See also: Delays in issuing regulations for the new-look Local Government Pension Scheme has increased implementation costs considerably, AquilaHeywood says.

PP Comment: Who will face the firing squad?