What is the age discrimination remedy (McCloud)?
When the government reformed public sector pension schemes in 2014-15, the regulations included protections for some members who were within 10 years of retirement.
In 2018, at the Court of Appeal, these protections were found to be age discriminatory. Following the cases of McCloud and Sargeant (from the Judges and Firefighters’ schemes), the Government is putting a remedy in place for this age discrimination. This will make sure that pension scheme members receive the best possible benefits from what they have accrued.
Despite the considerable challenges of the age discrimination (McCloud) remedy project, we made excellent progress throughout 2025. Thanks to our strong partnerships and in-house expertise, we processed a large proportion of remedy applications and paid a significant number of members their adjusted benefits.
Remediable service statements issued to retired police and firefighter members
By the end of 2025, LPPA had issued 3,539 Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) to retired members impacted by the McCloud remedy – 81% of all eligible members (4,390).
Those who have not yet received an RSS have been updated on the specific reasons for the delay. While these reasons are largely outside of LPPA’s control (e.g. data discrepancies and delayed guidance), we are working closely with our clients, systems provider and other partners to produce the outstanding statements as soon as possible.
Remedy claim forms / choice forms returned by retired police and firefighter members
From the RSSs we issued, we received 2,006 returned forms in 2025. 537 of these members (27%) requested to change their current pension payments (typically, unprotected and tapered scheme members). The remaining 73% requested to keep their existing pension benefits (typically members with protected benefits).
It’s worth noting that there are some retired members who have received an RSS and not yet returned their remedy claim form (or remedy choice form for police members). To make sure these members receive the correct benefits, we will be reminding them that it’s important to return their remedy claim forms as soon as possible – even if they wish to remain on their current benefits.
If a choice is not made within 12 months of the original RSS being issued, a decision will be made on the member’s behalf by the Pension Scheme Manager.
Remedy payments made to retired police and firefighter members
By the end of 2025, we made remedy payments to 462 (86%) of those police and firefighter members who had chosen to switch their benefits – totalling over £11 million. We are continuing to process forms on an ongoing basis and are expecting to pay more members over the coming months.
There is still a small number of members whose payments are likely to be delayed for reasons outside our control. We have written to these individuals to explain the specific reason for the delay and to confirm that once resolved, any outstanding payments will be backdated with interest.
Retirement cases for members impacted by remedy
Since 1 October 2023, LPPA has processed retirements for 823 members who have been impacted by remedy.
Annual benefit statements issued to active and deferred members impacted by remedy
By the 31 August 2025, we had successfully issued annual benefit statements to 93.6% of all police and firefighter members impacted by remedy – including 93.7% of all active police and firefighters who were impacted and 93.5% of deferred police and firefighter members who were impacted.
The statements included a full remediable service statement (RSS) with estimated benefit comparisons relating to remedy.
Next steps for retired members impacted by McCloud remedy
We are aware that there are still some retired police and firefighter members who are waiting for their RSS and payments. It is our priority to resolve these more complex cases as quickly as possible.
With the help of our systems provider, we introduced some new automated processes in December 2025, which will help us resolve cases where we there are complex calculations for modified members, members with pension sharing orders or other data challenges. These changes will enable us to move to the next stage of the process, which is to issue RSS documents to retired McCloud impacted members.
We will continue to investigate and find solutions for all outstanding cases until they have been resolved. In the meantime, we are committed to providing members with clear and timely updates where there are delays, so that members understand exactly what is causing the delay and what we are doing to resolve it.
Matthews Remedy
Alongside the McCloud Remedy, we have made good progress in supporting retained (part-time) firefighters with their Matthews Remedy claims – providing eligible members with an opportunity to retrospectively buy pensionable service in the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme.
88% (578) of Matthews claims have now been completed and remedy payments made.
Visit our Matthews remedy page for more information.
Existing pension benefits
All existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until any remedy adjustments are made. We will notify members when the changes have been made and confirm the final payments, including any interest that may be due.
Financial advice
As the scheme administrator, LPPA is not regulated to provide financial advice. We encourage members to consider their options carefully and where appropriate, speak to an independent financial adviser.
A list of financial advisers can be found at www.unbiased.co.uk
The proportion of Local Government Pension Scheme members impacted by the age discrimination (McCloud) remedy is generally lower than in other public service schemes, as is the financial impact. But the process of identifying those affected, updating pension records and making benefit adjustments has still posed some significant challenges.
Progress in 2025
- We carried out an exercise to identify those LGPS members who are impacted by the age discrimination remedy and updated the member records accordingly.
- We sent out annual benefits statements (ABSs) to 98.7% of active and deferred members identified as being eligible for remedy. Most of those statements included a McCloud underpin adjustment estimate. Those that didn’t included a note confirming the member’s eligibility for remedy, while explaining that we were not yet able to include the remedy underpin on the statement. We are reviewing these exceptions so that we can include the underpin detail in the 2025/26 ABSs.
- Over 70% of retrospective cases (pensioners, deceased members and transfers) have now been assessed for a McCloud underpin. We are continuing to work through the remaining 30% to increase this number over the coming months.
- The vast majority of LGPS members eligible for remedy will not receive any uplift in benefit payments from the application of the underpin adjustment. If a member (or spouse / dependent) does benefit, we will write to them later this year to advise them, adjust pensions accordingly and pay any arrears.
Existing pension benefits
All existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until any remedy adjustments are made. We will notify members when the changes have been made and confirm the final payments, including any interest that may be due.
Financial advice
As the scheme administrator, LPPA is not regulated to provide financial advice. We encourage members to consider their options carefully and where appropriate, speak to an independent financial adviser.
A list of financial advisers can be found at www.unbiased.co.uk
Outstanding Remediable Service Statements (Police and Firefighter members)
LPPA is continuing to issue Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) to Police and Firefighter scheme members who have not yet received their option forms.
We are working closely with our Systems provider to introduce updates that will allow us to issue more complex RSS documents and also with employers to obtain the data we need to process other outstanding documents.
Producing an RSS for those members who have not yet received one remains a priority. We will let members know as soon as we are in a position to confirm a date for issuing these documents.
Police and Firefighter members waiting for payment adjustments
We understand the urgency of this work and will notify members when their benefit adjustments have been made and are ready to be paid.
Additional interest will be included in the final payments to cover any delays. In the meantime, all existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until requests have been processed.
Local Government Pension Scheme members
Only a small percentage of local government members will be affected by the age discrimination (McCloud) ruling.
If you are an active or deferred member who is affected, we are aiming to include any benefit adjustments in your 2024-25 annual benefit statement where it is within our control to do so. Your statement will be available to access on your PensionPoint account by 31 August 2025.
We will also be writing to all impacted retired members with details of any benefit adjustments. These will be done automatically – there is no action you need to take. If you do not hear from us, it is because we don’t believe you are impacted by the ruling.
Financial advice
As the scheme administrator, LPPA is not regulated to provide financial advice but we do encourage members to consider their options carefully and where appropriate, speak to an independent financial adviser.
A list of financial advisers can be found at www.unbiased.co.uk
Existing pension benefits
All existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until any remedy adjustments are made. We will notify members when the changes have been made and confirm the final payments, including any interest that may be due.
Outstanding Remedial Service Statements (police and firefighter members)
LPPA has now issued the majority of Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) to Police and Firefighter scheme members and is continuing to process outstanding documents on an ongoing basis.
Over the last few weeks, we have implemented a number of system updates, which allows us to process more RSS documents for members, including those affected by Scheme Pays. We are also working closely with employers to make sure we have the data we need to process other outstanding documents.
We are aiming to issue all remaining RSS documents, where it is within our control to do so, by 31 October 2025.
Police and Firefighter members waiting for payment adjustments
We understand the urgency of this work and will notify members when their benefit adjustments have been made and are ready to be paid. Additional interest will be included in the final payments to cover any delays. In the meantime, all existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until requests have been processed.
Local Government Pension Scheme members
Only a very small percentage of local government members will be affected by the age discrimination (McCloud) ruling.
If you are an active or deferred member who is affected, we are aiming to include any benefit adjustments in your 2024-25 annual benefit statement where it is within our control to do so. This will be made available for you to access by 31 August 2025.
We will also be writing to all impacted retired members with details of any benefit adjustments. These will be done automatically – there is no action you need to take. If you do not hear from us, it is because you have not been impacted by the ruling.
Financial advice
As the scheme administrator, LPPA is not regulated to provide financial advice but we do encourage members to consider their options carefully and where appropriate, speak to an independent financial adviser.
A list of financial advisers can be found at www.unbiased.co.uk
Existing pension benefits
All existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until any remedy adjustments are made. We will notify members when the changes have been made and confirm the final payments, including any interest that may be due.
Having sent out Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) to a significant majority of members affected by the age discrimination remedy (McCloud) ruling, LPPA has received a number of option forms from members who have chosen to make changes to their existing pension benefits. These forms are currently being reviewed.
We know how important it is to resolve these requests quickly, but due to the complexity of the process it will take longer than normal to make these payment adjustments. Our priority is to make sure the final calculations are correct and that members receive their money as soon as possible.
Our aim is to start processing these requests from July 2025 with additional interest included in the final payments to cover any delays. We will notify members when their benefit adjustments have been made and are ready to be paid. In the meantime, all existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until requests have been processed
Members waiting to receive an RSS
LPPA is continuing to produce RSSs for those members who did not receive their RSS by the 31 March 2025. This includes members who are impacted by outstanding or late national guidance (such as those with pension sharing orders), scheme pays cases, and cases where additional data checks are required.
We are aiming to issue all of these outstanding RSS documents by 31 October 2025.
As well as producing outstanding RSSs and processing options forms, we are also now processing Matthews remedy requests for retired firefighters. Members who are impacted by the Matthews remedy are likely to have experienced delays, as their Matthews remedy must be completed before we can start their McCloud remedy.
Financial advice
As the scheme administrator, LPPA isn’t regulated to provide financial advice, but we encourage members to consider their options carefully and where appropriate, speak to an independent financial adviser. A list of financial advisers can be found at www.unbiased.co.uk
Existing pension benefits
All existing pension benefits will continue to be paid as normal until any remedy adjustments are made. We will notify members when the changes have been made and confirm the final payments, including any interest that may be due.
Ahead of the statutory 31 March 2025 deadline, where it was in our control to do so, LPPA produced a large number of Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) for active, deferred and retired members impacted by the age discrimination remedy (McCloud) ruling. These documents were uploaded to the members’ secure, online PensionPoint accounts, and copies were also issued in the post. More detail on the numbers and percentage of completed cases are provided in our earlier update on this page.
Any members who were not in receipt of their RSS by the 31 March 2025 deadline, received a letter to acknowledge the delay, which also highlighted the high priority that LPPA is placing on delivering their RSS as soon as possible.
Information to support members impacted by the age discrimination remedy (McCloud) ruling has been included on the LPPA website, including useful links and videos.
Once members have received their RSS, they have 12 months to decide on their benefits option. It is important to note that not all members will be due an uplift in their benefits as a result of remedy, as many will already be in receipt of the most beneficial option available to them.
When a member’s RSS option form has been submitted, LPPA will process their request. Although, it is important to highlight that some members may be required to undertake a medical reassessment (for example, if they retired due to ill health) before LPPA can complete their options request.
For members who elect for a change in benefits, LPPA will confirm when the changes have been implemented and the date of payment.
The production and communication of IC-RSSs will continue for those members who did not receive their options by the 31 March 2025 – such as members who are impacted by outstanding or late national guidance (including those with pension sharing orders, scheme pays cases, and cases where additional data checks are required). For retired firefighters impacted by the Matthews remedy, this must be completed in advance of McCloud remedy.
The statutory deadline for producing Remediable Service Statements (RSS) for Police and Firefighter pension scheme members impacted by the McCloud remedy was the 31 March 2025, and LPPA has produced 80% of RSS for all eligible members. In real terms, this is equivalent to the production of 5,327 RSS for Active members and 1,138 RSS for Deferred members (for both member groups, the majority were issued with RSS prior to the 31 August 2024), as well as 2,858 Immediate Choice RSS for Retired members.
All RSS were produced and have been made available for members to access in their secure online account (PensionPoint). Printed copies were posted prior to the 31 March 2025 and email notifications were sent to those members for whom we held email addresses.
These numbers are the result of a huge effort from all those involved – including LPPA, the employers we provide pension administration services for, and our systems partner – and positions LPPA in a favourable position, whilst acknowledging that some other administrators across the sector continue to face challenges in producing RSS for their members. There is still work to do, and our immediate priority is to complete production for any members who are not yet in receipt of their RSS.
Communications have been issued to those members who haven’t yet received their RSS to help them understand the reasons for the delay, and work continues at pace in collaborating with employers to obtain the data required to complete pension calculations. We are also working hard to complete cases for Fire members that are subject to the Matthews remedy, and we are waiting for outstanding national guidance required to complete cases for members with a pension sharing order or a previous pension transfer.
LPPA is committed to meeting the 31 August 2025 deadline for completing RSS production for Local Government Pension Scheme members who are eligible for the age discrimination remedy.
Following the high volume of communications which LPPA has issued over recent weeks, we are experiencing an increase in the number of calls into our Contact Centre, which means members may have to wait slightly longer than usual to speak with an adviser. It is also important to note that LPPA is unable to provide members with advice on which option to choose regarding their pension benefits. However, there is a range of online support information available, including Frequently Asked Questions, videos and links to the national Firefighter and Police pension websites on the Firefighter page and Police page of the LPPA website..
For details on how to register for PensionPoint, our secure online account for members, please click here. PensionPoint can be used by members to access important documents and ensure that their contact details are up to date.
