Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Governance) Regulations 2026.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 30th June 2026.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

Amendment of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013

2. The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013(4) are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 11.

Insertion of new regulation 53A

3. After regulation 53 (scheme managers)(5) insert—

Appointments that must be made by administering authorities

53A.—(1) Every administering authority must appoint an officer (“the LGPS senior officer”) who has senior responsibility across all pension functions of the authority, in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time—

(a)in the case of the first appointment, within six months beginning with the day on which this regulation comes into force, and

(b)in the case of any subsequent appointment, within six months beginning with the day on which the previous LGPS senior officer’s appointment ended.

(2) The LGPS senior officer must ensure that each pension fund maintained by the administering authority is appropriately managed and resourced in respect of all matters relating to the Scheme (including administration, investment and governance), in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.

(3) Where an administering authority is a local authority, the LGPS senior officer must not be any person who is at the same time—

(a)an officer with responsibility for the proper administration of an authority’s financial affairs under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 (financial administration)(6), section 73 of the Local Government Act 1985 (financial administration)(7), or section 6 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (officer responsible for financial administration of certain authorities)(8);

(b)a head of paid service, including—

(i)in relation to an administering authority in England, a person designated under section 4(1)(a) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (designation and reports of head of paid service), or

(ii)in relation to a Welsh principal council, the chief executive designated under section 54 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (head of paid service)(9);

(c)a monitoring officer under section 5(1)(a) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (designation and reports of monitoring officer)(10).

(4) Where an administering authority is not a local authority but is established under the Local Government Act 1985 or for the purpose of discharging functions relating to the administration of the Scheme (a “single purpose pension authority”), the LGPS senior officer must, where the head of paid service is an employee of that authority, be the head of paid service.

(5) Where an administering authority delegates its functions, or part of its functions, under these Regulations or section 101(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (arrangements for discharge of functions by local authorities) to a committee, sub-committee or an officer, it must appoint a person who is independent of both the Secretary of State and the administering authority (“an independent person”) to support the discharge of those functions in relation to the Scheme, including in respect of investment strategy, governance and administration.

(6) Where an administering authority is required to appoint an independent person under paragraph (5), it must—

(a)make the appointment within the time limit set out in paragraph (9), and

(b)do so in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.

(7) Where an administering authority is a single purpose pension authority, the independent person appointed under paragraph (5) may be appointed as a voting or non-voting member of a committee or sub-committee to which Scheme functions are delegated.

(8) An administering authority must ensure that an independent person appointed under paragraph (5) carries out their role in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.

(9) The time limit for appointing an independent person under paragraph (6) is—

(a)where the requirement to appoint an independent person arises on the coming into force of this regulation, six months beginning with the day on which this regulation comes into force;

(b)where the requirement to appoint an independent person first arises after that date, six months beginning with the day on which that requirement first arises;

(c)in respect of any subsequent appointment, six months beginning with the day on which the previous independent person’s appointment ended.

(10) Nothing in this regulation affects the responsibilities of an authority’s officer under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972, section 73 of the Local Government Act 1985 or section 6 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.”.

Revocation of regulation 55

4. Omit regulation 55 (administering authorities: governance compliance statement)(11).

Insertion of new regulations 55A and 55B

5. Before regulation 56 (accounts and audit) insert—

Administering authorities: governance strategy, training strategy and conflicts of interest policy

55A.—(1) An administering authority must prepare—

(a)a governance strategy,

(b)a training strategy, and

(c)a conflicts of interest policy.

(2) A governance strategy is a document setting out—

(a)whether the authority delegates its functions, or part of its functions, under these Regulations to a committee, a sub-committee or the LGPS senior officer of the authority,

(b)if the administering authority does so—

(i)the terms, structure, and operational procedures of the delegation, including the basis on which substitutes may be permitted to attend or act,

(ii)the frequency of any committee or sub-committee meetings,

(iii)whether such a committee or sub-committee includes representatives of Scheme employers or members and—

(aa)if so, whether those representatives have voting rights, or

(bb)if there are no such representatives, or if any representatives do not have voting rights, how the authority will ensure that the views of Scheme employers and members are represented in the governance of the fund, and

(iv)how the authority will ensure that it has appointed an independent person in accordance with regulation 53A(5) (appointments that must be made by administering authorities),

(c)the extent to which a delegation, or the absence of a delegation, complies with guidance given by the Secretary of State and, to the extent that it does not so comply, the reasons for not complying,

(d)an explanation of how the governance structure and any delegation arrangements adopted by the administering authority are designed to secure the effective and efficient administration, governance and investment of the Scheme for Scheme employers, members and other stakeholders, and

(e)details of the terms, structure, and operational procedures relating to the local pension board established under regulation 106 (local pension boards: establishment)(12).

(3) A training strategy is a document setting out how the authority will ensure that any persons to whom regulation 55B(1) or (2) (administering authorities: knowledge and understanding requirement for relevant persons) applies will meet the knowledge and understanding requirement in paragraph (3) of that regulation.

(4) A conflicts of interest policy is a document setting out the authority’s approach to identifying, monitoring and managing actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest in relation to the Scheme.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), conflicts of interest include—

(a)individual conflicts relating to—

(i)members of a committee or sub-committee,

(ii)an officer with responsibility for the proper administration of the authority’s financial affairs, including an officer under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 (financial administration),

(iii)the LGPS senior officer, and

(iv)any independent person appointed under regulation 53A,

(b)conflicts between the authority's role as administering authority and its role in any other capacity, and

(c)conflicts relating to—

(i)the authority's, or any other administering authority’s, participation in the relevant asset pool company,

(ii)members of the local pension board, or board members of the administering authority or of the relevant asset pool company,

(iii)any person who holds a position of authority within the administering authority or the relevant strategic authority, or

(iv)any person employed by the administering authority or by the relevant asset pool company.

(6) An administering authority may publish any two or more of the documents under paragraph (1) combined in a single document or publish them separately.

(7) An administering authority must review and, if appropriate, update its governance strategy, training strategy, and conflicts of interest policy—

(a)at least once in each valuation period, and

(b)without delay after any significant change to any of the matters specified in paragraphs (2) to (5).

(8) Before preparing or updating a governance strategy, training strategy, or conflicts of interest policy, an administering authority must consult such persons as it considers appropriate.

(9) An administering authority must publish updated versions of its governance strategy, training strategy, and conflicts of interest policy, where updates are made to any of them.

(10) In preparing, reviewing, updating and publishing any document under this regulation, an administering authority must act in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.

(11) In this regulation—

“publish” includes publish on the internet;

“the relevant asset pool company” and “the relevant strategic authority” have the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Pooling, Management and Investment of Funds) Regulations 2026 (interpretation)(13).

Administering authorities: knowledge and understanding requirement for relevant persons

55B.—(1) This paragraph applies to any person who is—

(a)a member of a committee,

(b)a member of a sub-committee, or

(c)an officer

to whom an administering authority has delegated its functions, or part of its functions, under these Regulations.

(2) This paragraph applies to any person who is an LGPS senior officer.

(3) A person to whom paragraph (1) or (2) applies must within a reasonable period after being appointed—

(a)be conversant with—

(i)the rules of the Scheme, and

(ii)any document recording policy relating to the administration of the Scheme which is for the time being adopted in relation to the Scheme;

(b)have knowledge and understanding of the law relating to pensions.

(4) The degree of knowledge and understanding required by paragraph (3) is that appropriate to the proper exercise of the functions delegated to the person by the administering authority, in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.”.

Amendments to regulation 57

6. In regulation 57 (pension fund annual report)—

(a)in paragraph (1)—

(i)in the opening words, for “contains” substitute “includes the text of or a link to”;

(ii)in sub-paragraph (e), for “the statement under regulation 55 (governance compliance statement)” substitute “the documents prepared in accordance with regulation 55A (governance strategy, training strategy and conflicts of interest policy)”;

(b)in paragraph (3), for “given by the Secretary of State” substitute “issued by the Secretary of State from time to time”.

Amendment to regulation 58

7. In regulation 58(4) (funding strategy statement)(14), for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a)guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time, and”.

Amendments to regulation 59

8. In regulation 59 (pension administration strategy)—

(a)in paragraph (1)—

(i)for “may” substitute “must”;

(ii)omit “such of”;

(iii)omit “as it considers appropriate”;

(iv)omit the words from “and” to the end;

(b)omit paragraph (2)(f);

(c)for paragraph (3) substitute—

“(3) An administering authority must review and, if appropriate, revise its pension administration strategy—

(a)at least once in each valuation period, and

(b)as soon as reasonably practical after any material change in its policies in relation to any of the matters contained in the strategy.”;

(d)in paragraph (6), omit “and to the Secretary of State”;

(e)after paragraph (6) insert—

“(6A) In preparing, revising and publishing its pension administration strategy, an administering authority must act in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.”.

Amendment to regulation 70

9. In regulation 70(2)(c) (additional costs arising from Scheme employer's level of performance), for “has prepared” substitute “is required to prepare”.

Insertion of new regulation 116A

10. After regulation 116 (scheme advisory board: additional functions)(15) insert—

Independent Governance Reviews

116A.—(1) An administering authority must arrange for governance reviews to be carried out by a suitable person in accordance with this regulation.

(2) The Secretary of State may, by written direction, require an administering authority to carry out an ad hoc governance review at the authority’s expense.

(3) The period of review in respect of a governance review under paragraph (2) is the period specified by the Secretary of State in the written direction.

(4) Where an administering authority is not required to ensure that an ad hoc governance review is carried out before then, it must ensure that a first periodic governance review is carried out and completed by 31st March 2028 at the authority’s expense.

(5) The period of review in respect of a governance review under paragraph (4) is the period between—

(a)1st April in the year preceding the date on which that first periodic governance review is completed, and

(b)the date on which that review is completed.

(6) An administering authority must ensure that a further periodic governance review is carried out and completed by the date specified in paragraph (7) at the authority’s expense.

(7) The date in this paragraph is the end of the valuation period following the valuation period in which the most recent governance review was completed under—

(a)paragraph (2),

(b)paragraph (4), or

(c)paragraph (6).

(8) The period of review in respect of a governance review under paragraph (6) is the period between—

(a)the date on which the most recent governance review was completed under paragraph (2), paragraph (4) or paragraph (6), and

(b)the date on which that further periodic governance review is completed.

(9) The cost of arranging a governance review under paragraph (2), paragraph (4) or paragraph (6) must be treated by the authority as an expense incurred in administering the pension fund for the purpose of regulation 4(5) of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Pooling, Management and Investment of Funds) Regulations 2026 (management of a pension fund)(16).

(10) A suitable person carrying out a governance review under paragraph (2), paragraph (4) or paragraph (6) must—

(a)carry out the review in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time about the carrying out of such reviews, and

(b)as soon as practicable after completing the review—

(i)prepare a report on the review, and

(ii)send a copy of the report to the Secretary of State and to the administering authority.

(11) An administering authority must, as soon as practicable and in any event no later than the date by which the governance review is required to be completed, publish the report prepared under paragraph (10)(b)(i).

(12) In arranging and publishing the report of a governance review under this regulation, an administering authority must act in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State from time to time.

(13) For the purposes of paragraph (1) and paragraph (10), a “suitable person” is any person who—

(a)is independent of both the Secretary of State and the administering authority, and

(b)in the reasonable opinion of the administering authority has sufficient knowledge and understanding of the rules of the Scheme to enable them to properly conduct the review.

(14) In this regulation “governance review”, “period of review”, “ad hoc governance review”, and “periodic governance review” have the same meaning as in section 5(2) of the Pension Schemes Act 2026 (scheme manager governance reviews).”.

Amendments to Schedule 1

11. In Schedule 1 (interpretation)—

(a)after the definition of “joint liability amount” insert—

““LGPS senior officer” has the meaning given in regulation 53A(1);”;

(b)at the end insert—

““valuation period” means the period between each valuation date under regulation 62.”.