Council insists LGPS access is 'a legal right' after Reform UK vows cuts

The council leader and chief executive issued a joint statement, clarifying their legal position following remarks by Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice, who announced that new employees in the 10 councils now controlled by the party would not be allowed to join the LGPS.

Speaking to The Telegraph, the MP for Boston and Skegness added that existing staff already enrolled in the scheme would receive lower pay rises to offset their generous pensions.

He said that under many pension schemes councils were having to contribute up to 30% of their officials’ salaries – and if staff are on such terms, “then candidly that has to be taken into account when you look at people’s annual pay rises”.

“You look at the overall cost of employment and if they’re not prepared to, then a whole load of people are going to have to be made redundant,” he continued.

However, Coun Sean Matthews, the newly elected leader of Lincolnshire County Council, and chief executive Debbie Barnes have clarified that access to the scheme is a legal right.

They said: “We have discussed this and would like to clarify the current legal position. The Local Government Pension Scheme is governed by statute and access to the scheme is a legal right for those that wish to join.

“Any changes to the LGPS – which is a career average scheme – would require national legislative change and would need to go through formal consultation.”

Reform UK struck a national breakthrough after also winning control of the likes of Lancashire County Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Kent County Council, to name a few, but did so on a pledge to find huge savings.

This was a large factor in Lincolnshire County Council’s recent decision to axe its Flood & Water Management Committee, despite warnings from former Lincoln Labour MP Karen Lee that it was “reckless, foolhardy and wrong.”

Flooding now sits within the Environment Committee, which already deals with issues such as waste and pollution, and those groups would not automatically be invited. It will now meet eight times per year instead of four.