What will I pay?
Your contributions to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) cover the cost of LGPS membership. But, they aren’t used to work out the benefits you will get at retirement. To find out how your pension builds up, please see the pension account page.
Your employer also pays into the LGPS. Every three years our actuary works out how much your employer should pay in to the scheme.
The contributions you pay are based on your salary and any overtime and additional hours you receive. This makes up your pensionable pay, which is used to work out your benefits. If you have more than one job, each job will be looked at separately.
If you pay tax, you will get tax relief on your contributions, as they are taken from your gross pay. The Pension Contributions Calculator on the national LGPS website can also work out your contributions for you.
There are nine different contribution bands between 5.5% and 12.5%.
To find out what contributions will apply in the 2024/2025 year, see the table below:
Pay bands |
Contribution rates |
| Up to £17,600 | 5.50% |
| £17,601 to £27,600 | 5.80% |
| £27,601 to £44,900 | 6.50% |
| £44,901 to £56,800 | 6.80% |
| £56,801 to £79,700 | 8.50% |
| £79,701 to £112,900 | 9.90% |
| £112,901 to £133,100 | 10.50% |
| £133,101 to £199,700 | 11.40% |
| £199,701 or more | 12.50% |
50/50 Section
You can join the 50/50 section of the LGPS after you have been a member of the main scheme. In the 50/50 section you can pay half your normal contributions to build up half pension benefits for the period you are in the 50/50 section.
Find out more about the 50/50 section on the can I pay less page.
Reviewing your Contributions
Each April, your employer works out the contribution band you fall into for each job you hold. If your pay changes during the year, your employer may review your contribution band. If this review results in a change to your contribution rate, your employer will let you know.