Local government pension scheme employer contributions vary: an actuary sets each employer's rate, and on average employers meet three quarters of the cost.

How much does an employer pay into the Local Government Pension Scheme?

There is no one percentage. The member website for England and Wales says your employer "pays the balance of the cost of providing your LGPS benefits", that an independent actuary works out the amount every three years, and that it varies between employers. Averaged out, employers cover roughly three quarters of the cost and members the other quarter.

Pension arithmetic at a council, school or college is rarely about one scheme only. An FCA-authorised adviser can put the LGPS next to your other savings in one free phone call, booked with this page's short form.

Your own side of the bargain is a published table: in England and Wales it runs from 5.5% to 12.5% of pensionable pay in 2026/27, covered in LGPS contribution rates. The employer side is a figure for your employer, written into the actuary's certificate for your fund.

Who sets the employer rate, and how often

In England and Wales the rule is regulation 62 of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013. It makes each fund's administering authority obtain a valuation of the fund's assets and liabilities "as at 31st March 2016 and on 31st March in every third year afterwards", with a rates and adjustments certificate prepared by an actuary. The certificate sets two rates for each year of the three-year period starting the following 1 April:

  • the primary rate, which the regulation describes as the amount for the cost of future accruals that all the employers in the fund should pay to secure its solvency, expressed as a percentage of the pay of employees who are active members;
  • the secondary rate, "any percentage or amount" by which contributions at the primary rate should be increased or reduced "by reason of any circumstances peculiar to that employer".

Among other things, the actuary must have regard to the fund's funding strategy statement and to how desirable it is to keep the primary rate as nearly constant as possible. In the certificates themselves, each employer's secondary rate is added to or subtracted from a primary rate to give that employer's minimum contribution rate. It can be negative, which is how an employer in surplus pays less than the primary rate.

Employer contribution rates by fund: the 2025 valuations

The most recent English and Welsh valuations are as at 31 March 2025, and they set rates for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Each fund publishes its own report, and the four below, all dated March 2026, show how far apart fund-wide figures can be:

FundPrimary rate, 2025 valuationPrimary rate, 2022 valuationFund-wide secondary rate, 2026/27
Tyne and Wear14.4% of pay18.6% of pay£-12.756m (cash)
Norfolk17.6% of pay22.4% of pay1.8%
West Sussex19.3% of pay18.4% of pay(4.0%)
Teesside19.9% of pay19.7% of pay-6.2%

Brackets and minus signs both mean a reduction. Tyne and Wear's primary figure is a weighted average of its employers' own rates, and its fund-wide secondary contributions are set in cash: £-12.756m in 2026/27, a reduction.

Read these as headline figures for each fund, not a league table. West Sussex's report explains that "different assumptions are used by each LGPS fund to reflect their own views, circumstances and strategic objectives", and that this leads to differences in contribution rates across the LGPS. Norfolk's primary rate fell from 22.4% to 17.6%, and its report says that on average "contribution rates have reduced due to higher assumed future returns at 2025", while West Sussex's rose from 18.4% to 19.3%. What a given employer pays is on that employer's line of the certificate, not in the headline.

Why two employers in the same fund can pay different rates

Hampshire Pension Fund's valuation as at 31 March 2025, reported by Hymans Robertson in March 2026, shows it. The fund-wide primary rate is 18.8% of pay with a secondary rate of -3.3% in each year, yet the rates and adjustments certificate sets different totals for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029:

EmployerPrimary rateSecondary rateTotal in each year from April 2026
Hampshire County Council18.9%-3.8%15.1%
Portsmouth City Council18.5%-3.6%14.9%
Southampton City Council18.5%-3.3%15.2%
New Forest District Council18.8%-3.3%15.5%

The report says each employer's rate is set to suit its circumstances, and that the rates reflect each employer's funding profile and covenant. A negative secondary rate is a reduction: these councils are paying less than their primary rate because the fund is in surplus.

At the previous valuation an employer was given a choice. Southampton's cabinet report of 17 January 2023 shows it. The council paid 18.2% at the time, was told its rate from April 2023 would be 17.8% and could take anything down to 16.8% by using surplus. It chose 16.8%, for an annual saving to its general fund of around £1.44 million, rather than the around £0.41 million a year from staying on 17.8%. The same report warned that if the fund did not perform as well, the council "may have to pay a higher employer contribution rate from 2026/27 onwards". The decision also applied to all employers grouped with the council.

That warning did not come true at the 2025 valuation: Southampton's total from April 2026 is 15.2%, in the table above.

Scottish local government pension scheme employer contribution rates

Scotland has its own regulations. The Scottish member website uses the same wording as England and Wales: an independent actuary works out the employer's share every three years, and the amount varies by employer. On average, it says, employers meet about three quarters of the cost.

Lothian Pension Fund's valuation as at 31 March 2023, made under Regulation 60 of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2018, sets rates for the three years from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027. Its whole-fund primary rate was 25.0% of pay (23.1% at 2020), with a secondary rate equivalent to -7.5% of payroll. The certificate then shows how different employers land on the same total:

EmployerPrimary rateSecondary rateTotal
The City of Edinburgh Council24.3%-6.7%17.6%
Edinburgh College29.9%-12.3%17.6%

Lothian's cycle differs from the English and Welsh one. Its report says the next formal valuation is due as at 31 March 2026, with contribution rates payable from 1 April 2027, so its employers' rates have not reset as English and Welsh ones did in April 2026. Other Scottish funds publish their own reports. What Scottish members pay themselves is in the contribution rates guide.

What your employer's rate means for you

It does not come out of your pay. A fund report puts it plainly: "Employees pay contributions to the Fund in addition to these rates." Member rates are set by the scheme regulations and covered in the contribution rates guide linked above.

It is also not what builds your pension. In the main section, 1/49th of your pensionable pay goes into your pension account every year, which is the benefit side described in how your LGPS pension is calculated. The employer rate is the funding side, set under regulation 62 to secure the fund's solvency; how the money is raised and invested is in whether the LGPS is funded.

How to find your own employer's rate

Start with the scheme's own advice: "You can Contact your pension fund to find out exactly how much your employer contributes." Which fund you belong to is in finding your LGPS fund. Funds publish their valuation reports, and the certificate lists employers by name, as the Hampshire and Lothian ones above do. Your payroll or HR team can also tell you.

Anyone who then wants to talk about wider retirement income can arrange for an FCA-authorised adviser to phone, free, after sending a few details with this page's short form.

Searches for an employer contributions calculator usually want a pounds figure. The employer's rate is a percentage of pensionable pay certified for that employer, so the number to find is the percentage on the certificate; your fund can confirm it.

GOV.UK says MoneyHelper gives free and impartial information but does not provide financial advice. It also says Pension Wise does not cover "final salary" or "career average" pensions, and the LGPS moved to career average pay on 1 April 2014, so Pension Wise is not the route for this question.

Employer rate queries, one at a time

Is there a national employer contribution rate?

No. Each fund's actuary certifies rates for the employers in that fund every three years in England and Wales, and the 2025 valuations above ranged from 14.4% to 19.9% on a fund-wide primary basis.

What does local government contribute to a pension on average?

The member website's average is a split of cost, about three parts employer to one part member. That is a share of cost, not a percentage of your pay.

What are Hampshire's employer contributions?

From 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 Hampshire County Council's certified total is 15.1% of pensionable pay: a primary rate of 18.9% less a secondary rate of 3.8%. Other employers in Hampshire Pension Fund have their own rates on the same certificate.

Do employer rates rise if the fund does badly?

They can, because rates are reset at each valuation. Southampton was warned of that risk in 2023; at Hampshire's 2025 valuation its rate went down instead.

When will rates change next?

Under regulation 62 as it stands, the next English and Welsh valuation is as at 31 March 2028, setting rates from 1 April 2029. Lothian's report says its next valuation is as at 31 March 2026, with rates from 1 April 2027.

When the rate matters to a decision of yours

If you are weighing up leaving a council job or a transfer, the employer rate is background and the benefits you hold are what count; see what happens if you leave and whether you can transfer out. Council employees thinking about leaving or transferring can have an FCA-authorised adviser consider the LGPS alongside the State Pension and other pots, with no fee, when they send a telephone number through the short form here.

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