McCloud Remedy

Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) and review of benefits paid since 1 April 2014

What is the McCloud remedy and how might it affect me?

In 2014, changes were made to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) to make it more sustainable and affordable. These changes protected older members, but in December 2018, the Court of Appeal found that this discriminated against younger members. This is known as the McCloud ruling. To fix this, new rules were introduced in September 2023 to extend protections to younger members who were treated unfairly. These protections ensure that eligible members get the better of either the career average scheme or the old final salary scheme benefits. Applying this fix from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2022 is complicated and many members are affected.

By law, administering authorities must include McCloud remedy information in the Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) for the 2024/25 scheme year, unless they choose to use a discretion in the regulations to delay providing this information. They can also use this discretion to extend the deadline for reviewing all calculations going back to 1 April 2014. This is set out in Regulation 2(4)(b) of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Information) Regulations 2024.

Implementation and determination power

Due to the complexity and volume of work required, the Fund cannot complete the McCloud remedy work for all eligible members by 31 August 2025. The Fund has decided to use the discretion and has made a determination to extend the completion period to 31 August 2026. This decision was made and recorded on 25 July 2025 by the Pensions Committee.

This decision is considered reasonable in all circumstances and will allow the Fund to focus on implementing the McCloud remedy for the remaining groups by 31 August 2026.

What does this mean for me?

This means that any guaranteed amount added to your pension benefits because of the McCloud remedy is not included in your 2024/25 Annual Benefit Statement. If you have already left the scheme, retired, or transferred your benefits and won’t get a statement, it may also mean that the Fund has not yet reviewed your calculations to see if your benefits need recalculating. Beneficiaries of members who passed away since the start of the remedy period may also still need a review of the benefits being paid.

Annual Benefit Statements for 2025/26 will include any additional amount you are entitled to. Also, if you leave the LGPS before retiring, transfer your benefits, or you or your beneficiaries become entitled to benefits in the meantime, these calculations will include any additional amount due to the McCloud remedy.

The Fund plans to review all calculations done since 1 April 2014 by 31 August 2026 and will contact you if your payments are going to increase. To help the Fund manage this work, it would be helpful if members and beneficiaries did not ask for updates on individual calculations.

For more details about the McCloud remedy, visit: