Redundancy and efficiency

Immediate payment

The pension you have built up to date may be paid immediately, without early retirement reductions, if:

• you are made redundant or take voluntary redundancy, or you're dismissed on efficiency grounds and
• you are at least age 55 and
• you paid into the LGPS for at least two years, including pension that you have transferred in.

If you are under Normal Pension age, your main LGPS benefits will not be reduced for early payment. However, if you have bought any additional pension such as APCs or ARCs, these will be reduced because of early payment.

If you are over Normal Pension Age, your benefits will be increased.

See:

• Redundancy and Efficiency for further information.
• News – exit payment cost cap for details of proposed changes which will affect members leaving on redundancy grounds.

Non-payment

However, if you are made redundant or dismissed on efficiency grounds, your pension will not be paid if:

• your LGPS membership, including pensions that you have transferred into it, is less than two years or
• you opted out of the LGPS before being made redundant.

Deferred pension

If you are made redundant or dismissed on efficiency grounds and :

• are less than age 55 and
• have at least two years membership

then you will be awarded a deferred pension, see: Your deferred pension.

Note: The government sets the earliest age at which you can access your pension savings under normal circumstances. This is currently age 55 as indicated above - however it is rising to age 57 from 6 April 2028.