The Buckinghamshire Council Pension Fund Board is scheduled to meet on 18 December 2025 to discuss a range of topics, including updates on the McCloud judgement¹ and the Pensions Dashboards Programme², as well as a discussion of the government consultation on scheme improvements. The board will also review its training and knowledge assessment, administration performance statistics, and forward plan.

Government Consultation - Scheme Improvements (Access & Protections)

The board is scheduled to discuss the government's consultation on Local Government Pension Scheme improvements, which covers four key areas:

• Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA): The consultation considers increasing the NMPA from 55 to 57 from 6 April 2028, while also implementing protections for those who already have a right to take benefits earlier.
• LGPS access for councillors and mayors: The consultation considers extending access to the LGPS to councillors and mayors in England, aligning the country with the rest of the UK.
• Academies and applications for Directions Orders: The consultation proposes introducing criteria for consolidation applications to be considered locally, without requiring Secretary of State consent.
• New Fair Deal: The consultation sets out updated policy proposals for introducing Fair Deal in the LGPS, ensuring that transferred employees retain the security of membership in the LGPS.

The board will be asked to note the fund's response to the consultation. The draft response indicates agreement with keeping the NMPA below 57 for members with a Protected Pension Age, and increasing it to 57 for those without. However, the response also raises concerns about potential legal challenges related to members transferring into the LGPS from other schemes where they have a Protected Pension Age. The fund also agrees with the proposal to give mayors and councillors access to the scheme, and with the two principles of how the government plans to develop regulations.

McCloud Update

The board is scheduled to receive an update on the McCloud remedy, which addresses age discrimination in public sector pension schemes. According to the report pack, Buckinghamshire Pension Fund has 21,814 eligible members in scope for the McCloud remedy, with 10,996 identified as having a potential data query. As of 5 December 2025, 3,712 of these members have been reviewed, with 3,236 fully verified and 607 manually updated. There are 321 member records with queries outstanding with employers, and 167 requiring concurrent service adjustments. The Pension Fund Committee extended the McCloud implementation period to 31 August 2026.

The report pack states that the board will be asked to note the current position regarding the McCloud project.

Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP)

The board is scheduled to discuss the Pensions Dashboards Programme, a government initiative to enable individuals to access their pensions information online, securely, and in one place. The Pension Schemes Act 2021 and Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 formalise the government's intentions to deliver pension dashboards. The connection deadline to the pensions dashboard being provided by the PDP is 31 October 2026, however, the public sector pension schemes 'connect by' date was 31 October 2025.

The report pack includes a preparing to connect checklist which details the current position of the fund. The checklist includes tasks such as signing up for dashboard online news alerts, keeping up to date with the latest information and developments, and discussing dashboards implementation with relevant stakeholders.

The report pack states that the board is asked to note the Pensions Dashboards Programme implementation plan.

TPR General Code of Practice

The board is scheduled to discuss the Pensions Regulator's (TPR) General Code of Practice, which consolidates multiple existing codes into a singular modular framework and sets out the standards of governance and administration expected of occupational pension schemes, including the LGPS.

To support readiness, the Fund commissioned an independent compliance review to be undertaken by Barnett Waddingham. The review assessed the Fund's compliance against 53 areas, using a scale from 'not applicable' to 'compliant +'. The review found that the Fund has strong governance processes in place, but there are areas for improvement. The eight modules which represent the areas that scored 'partially compliant' will be the focus of the action plan going forward.

The report pack states that the board is asked to note the findings of the report and support the proposed action plan to bring all partially compliant modules to full compliance.

Training Knowledge Assessment

The board is scheduled to note and comment on the results of the Knowledge Assessment, Knowledge Gap Analysis, and the Fund Training Plan. On 30 September 2025, board members were invited to undertake a Knowledge Assessment or Knowledge Gap Analysis based on their length of board membership. All board members completed at least one of these. A fund-wide training plan has been developed based upon the board member's results, alongside those of Pension Fund Committee members and officers.

Administration Performance Statistics

The board is scheduled to review the performance of the Pensions Administration team since the last board meeting. The report pack includes data on incoming communications, workload/performance levels, employer submissions/data reconciliation, and projects.

According to the report pack, 100% of incoming communications were dealt with on the day of receipt. Over October and November 2025, 12,179 new workflow cases were created, and 12,374 workflow cases were completed by the administration team. Of the cases completed, 94.18% were completed within the relevant target turnaround.

Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure

The board is scheduled to note the content of a report on the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP). The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) operates a two-stage dispute procedure under Regulation 72 to 79 of The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013.

The report pack details IDRP cases during the 2024/2025 year, including cases related to death overpayment, benefit options, and ill health retirement. It also provides information on non-formal appeals and Pensions Ombudsman cases.

Forward Plan

The board is scheduled to review its forward plan, which outlines the topics to be discussed at future meetings.