When the Government reformed public service pension schemes in 2014 and 2015 they introduced protections for older members. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that younger members of the Judges' and Firefighters' Pension schemes had been discriminated against because the protections did not also apply to them.
The Government has confirmed that there will be changes to all main public sector schemes, including the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), to remove this age discrimination. This ruling is often referred to as the 'McCloud judgment' after a member of the Judges' Pension Scheme involved in the case.
The changes will apply to members who were in the scheme on 31 March 2012 and also have membership after 31 March 2014 (without a break of more than five years in any public service pension scheme).
The Government has also confirmed that LGPS scheme members who qualify for protection do not need to make a claim for the changes to apply to them.
The LGA have published McCloud FAQs for scheme members on the national member website.