Pension news

Introduction of member portal – autumn 2024

Islington Pension Fund will be launching our new pension portal later this year. The portal will make your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pension more accessible and provide you with your details, whenever you want. More details soon.

Pension taxation

In the 2023 Spring Budget, the Government introduced the following pension changes with effect from 6 April 2023.

• Standard annual allowance increased from £40,000 to £60,000. 
• Lifetime Allowance (LTA) Tax Charge on pension savings in excess of the LTA was removed. This means that if you take your pension benefits and they are in excess of the LTA after this date, they will not be subject to the LTA Tax Charge.
• Maximum tax-free pension lump sum is capped at £268,275 (25 per cent of the current lifetime allowance) for scheme members without relevant pension protections.

Normal minimum pension age is set to increase from age 55 to 57

The normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is the age at which most members of registered pension schemes can draw down on their pensions without incurring a tax charge for unauthorised payments.

The Government published a consultation on the implementation of increasing the minimum pension age from 55 to 57. Their rationale for this increase is the rise in life expectancy.

The Government has embedded certain protections within these proposals to protect the existing scheme’s rights of members of any registered pension scheme. This means that a member who has a right under the LGPS scheme rules at the date of consultation to access their retirement benefits at 55 will be protected and no age increase will apply.

The proposed date for implementation is not until 2028 and the current Government (from 4 July 2024) may decide to do things differently.