Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to harmonise the actuarial methodology which determines the level of employer pension contributions for local authorities.

Contributions for Local Government Pension Scheme employers are set locally and principally reflect variations in membership and accumulated experience within the fund. The level of employer contributions is for funds to determine based on local actuarial advice.

The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 provides in section 13 for a review of the triennial local fund valuations, including employer contribution rates, to ensure that they are set at an appropriate level to ensure solvency and long term cost efficiency. The Department has appointed the Government Actuary to carry out the section 13 review following the 2016 valuations and it will be published later this year.