Local Government Pension Scheme contribution rates for 2026/27 in England and Wales run from 5.5% to 12.5% of pensionable pay, set by nine pay bands.

What you pay into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a percentage taken from your pay, and the percentage rises in steps as your pay does. Two features need a closer look: a 50/50 section that halves both what you pay and what you build up, and a Scottish scheme that charges each rate only on the slice of pay inside its tier. An FCA-authorised adviser can talk through how those deductions sit with any other pots you hold; the call is free, requested through the form on this page.

England and Wales: nine bands, one rate on all your pay

The scheme's member website for England and Wales, run for the Local Government Association, publishes one table, headed "Contribution bands for 2026/27", for rates that apply from April 2026. It was read on 20 October 2026.

Your actual pensionable payMain section rate50/50 section rate
Up to £18,4005.5%2.75%
£18,401 to £29,0005.8%2.90%
£29,001 to £47,3006.5%3.25%
£47,301 to £59,8006.8%3.40%
£59,801 to £84,0008.5%4.25%
£84,001 to £119,1009.9%4.95%
£119,101 to £140,40010.5%5.25%
£140,401 to £210,70011.4%5.70%
£210,701 or more12.5%6.25%

Every member must pay; how much depends on earnings. The bands are reviewed regularly and "may change in the future", and the legislation moves the pay limits each April (see the next section), so a table from an earlier year may not match this one. Your payslip shows what is actually being taken, and it is worth checking that contributions are coming out. Who qualifies to join at all is in who can join the LGPS.

Which pay figure puts you in a band

The pay that counts is pensionable pay. The scheme's glossary defines it as "the pay that pension contributions are deducted from", and lists overtime, both contractual and non-contractual, and pay for additional hours if you work part time among the things included. Travelling or subsistence allowances and pay in lieu of notice are among the things excluded. The table is headed "actual" pensionable pay, and the regulations use the pay the member is receiving, so a part-time member is banded on their own earnings rather than a full-time salary.

The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (regulation 9) say what happens next. A member pays at "the contribution rate applicable to the annual pensionable pay that member is receiving in the pay period in which 1st April falls", or at the pay received when membership starts for someone joining after 1 April. The table gives "Contribution rate for that employment", so the rate is one figure for the band you fall into. Someone with two LGPS jobs is placed separately in each, a point the scheme's website makes too.

Three further rules are worth knowing:

  • Your employer decides your rate when you join and every April afterwards, and the regulation lets the employer apply a different band after a change of employment or "a material change" to your pensionable pay during the year.
  • A fall in pay caused by sick leave, child-related leave or leave of absence with permission is disregarded when working out which band applies, according to the same regulation (it lists other circumstances too).
  • The band limits are not fixed. Regulation 9 raises the pay limits each April by the amount (where it is above zero) a pension beginning on 1 April 2014 would be increased, rounded down to the nearest £100, so the limits above should not be assumed for the following year.

The scheme offers a contributions calculator that works out what you pay from your pay, tax relief and section, and your employer confirms the band that applies to you.

The 50/50 section: half the contributions, half the pension

The 50/50 section lets you "pay half your normal contribution rate and build up half your normal pension", and you keep full life and ill-health cover. In the main section, 1/49th of your pensionable pay goes into your pension account each year; in 50/50 it is 1/98th. The right-hand column of the table above shows the reduced rates. In law the reduced rate is 50% of what regulation 9 would otherwise require. The section is designed to help members stay in during times of financial hardship.

How it works in practice:

  • Everyone starts in the main section, then elects in writing to move to 50/50, starting reduced contributions from the next available pay period.
  • There is no limit to the number of times you can move between the sections, and you can return to the main section at any time by telling your employer in writing.
  • It is meant as a short-term option: the employer must move you back to the main section roughly every three years.
  • If your pay drops to zero during sickness or injury, or ordinary maternity or adoption leave, among other absences, your employer may have to move you back to the main section.
  • An additional pension contract you are paying must stop if you move into 50/50, and you cannot start a new one, although contracts to buy back pension lost in authorised unpaid leave can continue. More on extra contributions is in LGPS additional voluntary contributions and topping up your LGPS pension.

The trade is plain: lower deductions now against a smaller pension account each year you spend in the section. Your employer must give you information on how electing affects your likely benefits. Whether that trade suits you depends on your budget, your other savings and how long you are likely to stay. Weighing a spell in 50/50 against your wider finances is the sort of question an FCA-authorised adviser can take on during a free phone call booked via the form on this page. How the pension itself is worked out is in how your LGPS pension is calculated.

The employer's share, set fund by fund

Your employer's contribution is not on the member table, because it is not a fixed percentage for everyone. According to the member website, your employer pays the balance of the cost of your benefits, and every three years an independent actuary calculates how much your employer should contribute, taking investment returns into account. The amount varies between employers. On average, employers pay roughly three quarters of the Scheme's costs and employees a quarter.

So there is no single national employer rate to quote. Your pension fund can tell you exactly how much your employer pays. Which fund you belong to is covered in finding your LGPS fund, how the funds are paid for in whether the LGPS is funded, and the employer side in more depth in LGPS employer contributions.

Scotland has its own table

LGPS Scotland publishes its contribution table on its own member website, and it works differently from the England and Wales one. Its page says rates currently run between 5.5% and 12% of pensionable pay, in five tiers, "with your contributions based on how much of your pensionable pay falls into each tier". The table (also headed "Contribution bands for 2026/27", rates from April 2026, read on 20 October 2026) reads:

Pensionable earningsMain section rate50/50 section rate
Up to and including £28,5005.5%2.75%
Above £28,501 and up to £34,9007.25%3.625%
Above £34,901 and up to £47,8008.5%4.25%
Above £47,801 and up to £63,8009.5%4.75%
Above £63,80112%6%

The wording matters. The English table gives a single rate for the band your pay falls in; the Scottish page applies each rate to the slice of pay inside its tier. In Scotland, too, the employer decides your rate every April, the 50/50 section pays half each tier's rate, and an independent actuary sets employer contributions every three years, varying by employer. The Scottish table does not apply to members in England and Wales.

Tax relief on what you pay

If you earn enough to pay tax, your contributions attract tax relief when they are deducted from your pay. The LGPS operates a net pay arrangement: contributions come out of pay before income tax is calculated. The other ways relief can be given are compared in our guide to pension tax relief.

Someone who does not earn enough to pay tax gets no relief through their pay. For the 2024/25 year onwards, the Government will make top-up payments to members in this group. A July 2026 news item on the member website said HMRC would begin contacting people from August 2026, that nobody has to apply, and that you may be eligible if you paid contributions to a net pay scheme and did not receive relief because you did not pay income tax.

Quick answers on LGPS deductions

What percentage of my pay goes into the Local Government Pension Scheme?

In England and Wales it is between 5.5% and 12.5% in 2026/27, depending on the band, or half that in the 50/50 section. In Scotland the range is 5.5% to 12%.

Will I move band if my pay goes up mid-year?

Possibly. Your employer sets the rate every April, and may apply a different band during the year after a material change to your pensionable pay, telling you the new rate and when it starts. The band limits also move each April.

Is my band based on my full-time salary if I work part time?

No. Bands follow actual pensionable pay, so someone on reduced hours is banded on what they earn. Extra hours worked by a part-timer count as pensionable pay.

Do I get anything back if I earn too little to pay income tax?

Possibly. See the lower earner's payment under tax relief above. HMRC contacts eligible people itself.

Where to check your own band

Your pension fund can tell you your band and your employer's rate. MoneyHelper gives free, impartial information but not financial advice, according to GOV.UK, which also says Pension Wise, the free appointment service for people over 50, does not cover "career average" pensions (nor final salary schemes or the State Pension). The main LGPS has been a career average scheme since 1 April 2014, so questions about that pension sit outside Pension Wise. Whether the scheme is good value is taken up in the LGPS value question, and Pension Wise has its own page.

An FCA-authorised adviser can also go over your LGPS band, any 50/50 period and your other savings with you, free, if you send your phone number using the form on this page.

Sources