The market value of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds has increased by nearly £27bn, despite an 8% fall in total income, according to new data.
Official statistics released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) found that the market value of LGPS funds at the end of March 2022 was £364bn, which is an 8% rise.
The DLUHC analysis revealed that the number of members retiring from the scheme has also risen by 14.2%, with retirements in 2021-22 totalling 94,724.
According to the research: “This may be due to people being unable or unwilling to retire during the coronavirus pandemic, and more people choosing to retire as the pandemic abated.”
Hence, expenditure went up by 6.6% to £14.4bn, which “was driven in part by an increase in lump-sum retirement payments”.
The statistics are based on data from 85 of the 86 LGPS funds. The Environment Agency was not included as it was not in the scope of DLUHC data collection.
There was an 8.1% fall in total LGPS income in 2021-22 to £15.9bn and a 24.3% decrease in employers’ contributions to £7.8bn.
“This decrease is common after every third year where many employers make early payments for three years at a time, so the value for last year was higher than usual,” the analysis suggested
However, the investment income to the LGPS in 2021-22 increased by 21.2% to £4.5bn, which could be due to an improving investment market as the global economy recovered from Covid-19.
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