Pensions
Cheshire East Council offers staff the opportunity to contribute to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). If you contribute to the LGPS , it is a valuable part of your pay and reward package.
Benefits include:
- a guaranteed pension
- option to take a tax free lump sum when you retire
- choice to increase your pension by up to £5,000 per annum
- to retire voluntarily at age 55 with reduced benefits
- immediate benefits at any age if you have to retire due to ill health
- death in service lump sum of three years actual pay
- survivors pensions payable for spouse, partner, cohabiting partners and eligible children
How to join the pension scheme
You will be automatically enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) if you have a contract of employment for three months or more and you are under the age of 75. This also applies to new members of staff.
My Cheshire Pension portal
The ‘My Cheshire Pension’ portal gives you easy, direct access to information about your pension. You can log in to view your personal data, seek information about your pension details, update personal information, update your Death Grant Nomination (DGN), and soon you will be able to see your Annual Benefit Statement (ABS).
To register for the portal, you will need the following:
- Your National Insurance number (NI)
- Your date of birth
- An email address (preferably a personal one)
- A mobile number
Once you have these to hand, please visit the portal site at: Members | Cheshire Pension Fund - Home (mycheshirepension.org)
Pension Contributions Bands
Your pension contribution rate will be based on the actual pensionable pay you earn in each financial year.
Each April the council will decide your appropriate rate of contributions for each employment by matching your actual pensionable pay to the appropriate band. If you have more than one job, your contribution rate will be set separately for each job. Your band allocation may also change mid-financial year if your contract changes permanently i.e. promotion, down grading or a change in hours of work.
You can see the current contribution banding for this financial year: How much does it cost
Transferring from another Local Government Pension Scheme
You can transfer your pension rights from:
- another LGPS fund
- a previous employer’s pension scheme
- a self employed pension plan
- a personal pension plan
- a stakeholder pension scheme
Increase your pension
If you are member of the Local Government Pension Scheme you can increase your pension by making additional salary contributions.
Opting out of the pension scheme
You can opt out or cancel your membership at any time.
Pension discretions resources
McCloud remedy
When the LGPS changed from a final salary scheme to a career average scheme in 2014 (known as CARE), older, and longer serving, members were protected from the changes. These protections are known as ‘the underpin’, and work by comparing benefits in the old final salary scheme to the benefits in the new career average scheme. The member receives the benefit which is the highest.
In 2018, the Courts found that younger members had been discriminated against because the protections did not apply to them. This ruling is called the McCloud judgment. The remedy essentially extends the underpin to all members who meet set criteria.
All members of the Cheshire Pension Fund (active, deferred and pensioner members) will be contacted to make them aware of the changes as a result of the McCloud judgement by 31 December 2023.
For further details refer to the McCloud remedy letter from Cheshire Pension Fund (MS Word, 38KB).
More information
Contact Cheshire Pension fund
Cheshire Pension Fund
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Council Offices
4 Civic Way
Ellesmere Port
CH65 0BE
Phone: 01244 976000
Email: pensions@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk