Can I join the LGPS if I already have a personal pension or stakeholder pension scheme?

If you currently contribute to a personal pension plan or stakeholder pension scheme and decide to join the LGPS, you can, if you wish, still continue to make your own contributions to the personal pension or stakeholder pension scheme from your earnings as a councillor.

There are HM Revenue and Customs controls on the total amount of contributions you can make into all pension arrangements and receive tax relief.

You can, if you wish, pay up to 100% of your UK taxable earnings in any one tax year into any number of concurrent pension arrangements of your choice (or, if greater, £3,600 to a “tax relief at source” arrangement, such as a personal pension or stakeholder pension scheme) and be eligible for tax relief on those contributions.

There are also controls, known as the Lifetime Allowance and the Annual Allowance, on all the pension savings you can have before you become subject to a tax charge.

Most scheme members’ pension savings will be less than these allowances.