Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Pension megafunds could unlock £80 billion of investment as Chancellor takes radical action to drive economic growth, published on 13 November 2024, whether the assets and liabilities of amalgamated local authority pension funds will remain with councils or become part of the Government's accounts.

The Government is consulting on proposals relating to asset pooling in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales, following extensive engagement with sector stakeholders including the LGA.

The proposals in the consultation do not include mandatory merging of funds, and so a) assets and liabilities b) paying pensions and c) acquiring contributions from councils would remain the responsibility of the administering authority. Administering authorities would remain responsible for setting an investment strategy, with its implementation delegated to the pools.

All pools would be FCA-regulated investment management companies, with partner administering authorities as sole shareholders. Boards of all pool companies would be required to have the skills and experience appropriate to the leadership of an investment management company, meeting the requirements for FCA authorisation.