An Amicable Divorce - LGPS Bulletin

by Alistair Russell-Smith   •  
Blog

The question I’m asked about most often is about the cost of exiting a LGPS, as for most charities the costs can come as a bit of a surprise. One organisation I worked with recently had a small surplus at their last actuarial review and in their accounts, but when a couple of their staff left unexpectedly they were immediately hit with a bill from the fund in excess of £500,000, pretty much wiping out all their assets and placing them on the brink of insolvency. So what do you need to know? Should you run out of active members in your LGPS fund (and not be in a position to add any new ones, for example if you have a closed agreement or a local authority contract has come to an end) under the LGPS Regulations the fund must commission the Fund Actuary to complete a cessation valuation. Whilst the Regulations do not prescribe how this calculation should be carried out, the actuaries undertaking the calculation will use very prudent ‘least risk’ assumptions based on gilt yields. This will result in liabilities being much higher than is the case on either a funding or accounting measure. Often this is the first point that an admitted body may be aware of this liability, as unfortunately numerous funds still do not provide organisations with an annual estimate of the potential cessation debt. The conservative approach taken reflects that once an organisation exits an LGPS, the fund cannot pursue them for any extra money if the cost of providing members' benefits is higher than expected. The fund therefore wants to make sure that there is a minimal risk that other employers in the fund would be responsible for paying for any of these exiting liabilities. As such the approach is a protection for all. However, what has been called in to question more recently is whether the basis adopted is reasonable, and indeed suitable in all circumstances. What is clear however, is that there is a great reluctance on the part of the funds to change, not surprisingly. Whilst the approach to calculating a cessation debt across Funds, and across the various fund actuaries, tends to be consistent, the circumstances in which it applies can vary significantly. For example, some funds offer public sector out-sourcers ‘pass through’ protection, which means that any cessation debt is calculated on the much lower on-going funding basis. Other funds recognise where the last employer has inherited significant liabilities from a public sector body, and will account for these by ensuring that the public sector body picks up their fair share. Unfortunately, though the vast majority of funds do not. Some funds are prepared to negotiate around the cessation amount payable, subject to affordability and the term of any repayment. However, in most circumstances these negotiations need to be conducted in advance of any formal debt trigger / calculation. Admitted bodies therefore need to be aware of their situation and look to plan for it, as far in advance as possible, as allowing a cessation event to just happen could have catastrophic implications for the charity. In my next bulletin I’ll consider why change should be considered.

Further reading

Is your DB scheme an asset rather than a liability?

Blog
by Alistair Russell-Smith   •  

2024 Charity Defined Benefit Pensions Benchmarking Report

Blog
by Alistair Russell-Smith   •  

Spring Budget 2024 – What does it mean for pensions?

Blog
by Angela Burns   •  

More Insights?