Overview
The LGPS offers you the flexibility to pay half your normal contribution rate and build up half your normal pension. This is called the 50/50 section of the LGPS. You keep full life and ill-health cover if you join the 50/50 section.
Looking after your pension 01:46
How much you pay and how you can increase or decrease your payments.
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The 50/50 section is designed to help members stay in the Scheme, building up valuable pensions benefits during times of financial hardship. You can use the Contributions calculator to see how joining the 50/50 section would affect your take-home pay. The table below shows the current contribution rates in the main and 50/50 sections of the Scheme.
| Your actual pensionable pay | Main section contribution rate | 50/50 section contribution rate |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £18,400 | 5.50% | 2.75% |
| £18,401 to £29,000 | 5.80% | 2.90% |
| £29,001 to £47,300 | 6.50% | 3.25% |
| £47,301 to £59,800 | 6.80% | 3.40% |
| £59,801 to £84,000 | 8.50% | 4.25% |
| £84,001 to £119,100 | 9.90% | 4.95% |
| £119,101 to £140,400 | 10.50% | 5.25% |
| £140,401 to £210,700 | 11.40% | 5.70% |
| £210,701 or more | 12.50% | 6.25% |
How to move to the 50/50 section
The LGPS offers you the flexibility to pay half your normal contribution rate and build up half your normal pension. When you join the LGPS you will be put into the main section of the LGPS. In the main section, you pay the normal contribution rate in return for normal pension build up. Once you are a member of the main section you can elect in writing to move to the 50/50 section.
You can ask your employer for a 50/50 election form, or you can Contact your pension fund. If you elect to join the 50/50 section, you will start paying reduced contributions from the next available pay period.
There is no limit to the number of times you can elect to move from the main section to the 50/50 section and back again.
Back to topBack to content menuLeaving the 50/50 section
After you have joined the 50/50 section, you can choose to move to the main section of the LGPS at any time. You will need to let your employer know in writing. If you want to move to the main section, ask your employer for an election form or Contact your pension fund.
The 50/50 section is designed to be a short-term option. Your employer must move you back into the main section of the Scheme roughly every three years.
If you are in the 50/50 section and your pay drops to zero during an absence, your employer may have to move you back into the main section of the Scheme from the next pay period. This depends on the reason for the pay drop. You would be moved to the main section if your pay drops to zero during these absences:
- sickness or injury
- ordinary maternity or adoption leave (generally the first 26 weeks of leave)
- paternity leave
- additional maternity or adoption leave, shared parental leave – if the unpaid period started 1 April 2026 or later.
You may not be moved to the main section if you are unpaid for a very short period. If you start receiving pay again before the next pay period begins, you will stay in the 50/50 section.
Back to topBack to content menuPaying extra in the 50/50 section
If you move to the 50/50 section and you are buying extra pension in the LGPS by paying Additional Pension Contributions, the contract must stop. If your employer is contributing to the cost of buying the extra pension, the contract must stop. You are not allowed to start a new contract to buy extra pension if you are in the 50/50 section.
You can pay extra contributions to buy back the pension ‘lost’ during a period of authorised unpaid leave or industrial action. Your employer will generally share the cost of buying the lost pension if the unpaid period was authorised. If you are paying extra contributions to buy pension ‘lost’ in an unpaid period and you join the 50/50 section, the contract can continue. This is the case whether or not the employer is paying part of the cost. You can also start a new contract to buy lost pension if you are in the 50/50 section.
If you are paying any other type of additional contributions in the LGPS, these can continue if you move to the 50/50 section.
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