Once you’re a member of our scheme you can join the 50/50 section.
It is designed as a short-term solution for when our scheme members are experiencing financial difficulties.
It allows you to flexibly pay 50% contributions and build up 50% pension benefits for the period you’re in it, and your full life and ill health cover remains unaffected.
If you're interested in joining the 50/50 section, you can elect to join by completing the 'Pension option form' attached to this page.
If you choose to join the 50/50 section you need to be aware that your employer must re-enrol you back into the main section every 3 years. They will let you know when this is happening. If you then want to continue in the 50/50 section you can join again.
Reverting to full membership
You can choose to revert to the main scheme at any time by completing the 'Pension option form' attached to this page and returning it to your employer.
Example
Gemma's annual pensionable pay is £12,000 per year.
In the main section of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) she will pay 5.5% of her pay each month into her pension. This equates to £55 per month.
For each year Gemma's annual pension builds by £245 (1/49th of her pensionable pay).
In the 50/50 section she will pay 2.75% of her pay each month instead. As her contributions are halved, this equates to £27.50 per month.
For each year in the 50/50 section, Gemma's annual pension builds by £122 (1/98th of pensionable pay).
Gemma's life and ill health cover are not affected, so she knows, for instance, that if she dies while she's in the 50/50 section, her loved ones will still be entitled to receive death benefits as if she was in the main section of the scheme.
Links to useful documents