Our new online pension account service is on the way

We’re getting ready to launch our new online pension account over the next few months. It's been built in-house, designed around our members, and is a big step up from the service it’s replacing (My Pension).

You’ll notice a cleaner layout, smoother navigation and much better reliability and security from day one. It’s a fresh start and a foundation we’ll keep building on.

To keep things simple at launch, the core features you’re used to will be there straight away, and with more features and services being added over time, it’s only going to get better.

Keep an eye out on our website and for your invitation to register over the next few months, we’d love you to give it a try when it arrives. And, your feedback will help us shape what comes next.

2025 LPF report and accounts published

Jo Kempton, Head of Lincolnshire Pension Fund writes:

At the end of 2024/25, the value of the Fund was £3.6 billion – an increase of £156.7 million from the previous year, a return of 3.9% on the Fund’s investments.

Our Pensions Committee worked hard over the year, and details of the meeting agendas and attendance can be found in the main report. The Pension Board continued to provide oversight of the governance of the Fund and of the administration function, and concluded that the Fund remained well run, as set out in the Annual Report of the Local Pension Board. Our shared service administration provider, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), maintained its usual high level of service to scheme members and employers in the Fund, and paid over £146.2 million in pension benefits over the year. WYPF were also very busy getting the Fund ready for the Pensions Dashboard, working with employers to ensure that the data we hold relating to our scheme members is of a high standard.

The Government's consultation on the LGPS entitled “Fit for the Future” has kept us very busy, with the requirements for asset pooling increasing and changes of roles for the Pensions Committee and for Border to Coast, the Fund’s asset pool. We’ve worked closely with the other ten Partner Funds within Border to Coast to ensure that we can meet the Government’s requirements within their very tight timescales. Border to Coast has continued to grow as the Partner Funds have transferred assets, with £30.2bn under management across ten collective investment vehicles and a further £20.2bn of Private Markets and Real Estate commitments made across eight propositions, as at 31 March 2025. LPF has transferred 55.7% of the Lincolnshire Pension Fund's assets across to the management of Border to Coast, with net savings to date of £7.64m.

Stewardship and responsible investment are an integral part of the Fund's investment strategy and decision making, and the Fund works closely with Border to Coast to ensure that it invests in a sustainable way. Through Border to Coast, and in its membership with the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), the Fund engages with companies on key environmental, social, and governance issues, such as carbon reduction, executive pay, human rights and fair accounting. We were again successful in meeting the requirements of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in submitting our Stewardship Code Statement for 2023/24, which can be found on our website at Lincolnshire pension fund Stewardship Code 2023/24.

The Fund is always keen to hear its members' views on stewardship and responsible investment, or on any other matters about the Pension Fund, so please contact us at LGPSpensions@lincolnshire.gov.uk with any comments or questions you may have. Please note – this email address is NOT for any pension benefit queries – please use the normal contact email of pensions@wypf.org.uk

You can see a summary of the report on www.wypf.org.uk/lpf/lpf-fund-report-2025

If you would like to read about the fund’s performance in more detail, please see our full report on www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/finances-budgets/lincolnshire-pension-fund/3

McCloud age discrimination national webinars now available to book

These free webinars, running throughout December, give members an overview of the age discrimination remedy, commonly known as the McCloud remedy.

Visit www.lgpsmember.org/mccloud-remedy/mccloud-webinars to find out more and book a place.

Pensions dashboards – progressing well, but not launching for a while yet

Work is ongoing at a national and local level to build and connect to a national Pensions Dashboard that will be free for all UK citizens to use to view a summary of all their pension information online and in one place. We now don’t expect DWP to launch the service until late 2026 at the earliest. Find out more at www.wypf.org.uk/pension-dashboards

Minimum pension age change (55 to 57)

Following changes to the minimum pension age set out in the Finance Act 2022, the earliest age people will be able to take a pension will increase from age 55 to 57 with effect from 6 April 2028. (This doesn’t apply if you have to take your pension early due to ill health.)

However, you might be protected from this change if you joined the LGPS before 4 November 2021, as the Act allowed for some members to keep a lower ‘protected pension age’. We do not yet know for certain how this will be implemented in the LGPS, but the consultation below sets out the Government’s intentions.

New regulations in consultation

In October the Government launched a consultation on changes to the LGPS the ‘Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales – Scheme Improvements (Access and Protections)’ consultation, which lasts for ten weeks ending on 22 December 2025. The consultation represents the next phase in its efforts to improve access to and fairness in the scheme. The consultation sets out proposals across four key policy areas:

• amending the normal minimum pension age to reflect legislative changes
• simplifying the process for applications from academies to change the fund they are in
• applying new Fair Deal protections to outsourced workers, and
• bringing pension fund access to mayors and councillors in England in line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

To learn more and for information about how to respond to this consultation search for ‘scheme improvements (access and protections)’ at www.gov.uk.

Don’t let scammers steal your retirement

Savers and those reaching retirement age are being warned to protect their pensions and look out for criminals trying to catch people out of their life savings, with Action Fraud revealing a total annual loss of £17,567,249. This equates to roughly £48,129 lost to this type of fraud per day in 2024. It pays to be aware and be on your guard against the scammers. Take a look at www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/pensionfraud and www.fca.org.uk/scamsmartand find out how to protect yourself.