Employer discretions

The LGPS Regulations include discretions. As an employer, you must decide how you will apply some of these discretions and whether you will apply others.

What must you do

The Regulations require that you:

Publish a written policy statement that confirms how you will exercise the compulsory discretions and any optional discretions you choose to include.
Review the policy statement regularly
Update the statement when needed
Give Hampshire Pension Services a copy of your policy statement.

Your policy statement must:

Cover all compulsory discretions.
Be clear and easy to read.

Compulsory discretions

You must have a policy statement on the following discretions:

Members active in the LGPS from 1 April 2014 onwards

Awarding additional pension.
Voluntary funding of additional pension through shared cost additional pension contributions.
Flexible retirement.
Switching on the 85 year rule.
Waiving actuarial reductions.

Members who left the LGPS between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014

Switching on the 85 year rule for members with deferred benefits
Waiving of actuarial reductions on compassionate grounds for members with deferred benefits

Members who left the LGPS between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 2008

Switching on the 85 year rule for members with deferred benefits
Granting early payment of pension benefits on or after age 50 and before age 55
Waiving of actuarial reductions on compassionate grounds for members with deferred benefits

Members who left the LGPS before 1 April 1998

Granting early payment of pension benefits on or after age 50 and before age 55 on compassionate grounds.

If you do not have a policy statement covering these discretions

You are not complying with the LGPS regulations
Hampshire Pension Services cannot process awards of

Additional pension
Flexible retirement.
Waiving actuarial reductions.

For further information on these discretions and how they work, refer to the Discretions template and LGA Discretions guidance

Optional discretions

You can choose to have policies on additional discretions. Examples include:

Membership aggregation - Regulations 22(7)(b) and 22(8)(b)

A Member with previous LGPS membership can choose whether to keep pension records separate.
The election to keep benefit separate must normally be made within 12 months of becoming an active member.
You may allow a period longer than 12 months

Transfers of pension rights - Regulation 100(6)

An active member who wants to transfer previous pension rights into the LGPS must usually apply within 12 months of becoming an active member.
You may allow a period longer than 12 months.

Employer contributions during authorised unpaid leave over three years - Regulation 16(2)(e) or (4)(d)

You may choose whether to pay employer contributions for periods of authorised unpaid leave over three years.

Extension of election period for QAPA - Regulation 16A

You can choose to allow a member more than 12 months to elect to buy additional pension through QAPA.

You can have policies on as many optional discretions as you wish. To see the full list of LGPS discretions, use the LGA discretions guidance.

General information on writing policies

When you create or review a policy statement, you should consider:

Your circumstances:

Your policy should reflect your workforce, budget, and business needs.
Copying another employer's policy may not be suitable for your organisation.

Cost:

Your policy should be affordable.
It should not risk a serious loss of confidence in public service.

Fettering:

Your policy should not be unnecessarily restrictive.

Equality and fairness:

Your policy must comply with anti-discrimination law.
You must apply policies consistently and fairly.

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