Membership
Total Membership
As at 31 March 2023, the total membership of the Scheme was 6.49million, compared with 6.39million as at 31 March 2022. The greatest increase in absolute and relative terms was to pensioner membership, which increased by 0.8% relative to total membership and 2.6% relative to pensioner membership over the year to 2023.
Active membership of the LGPS has continued to grow, with the biggest absolute and relative increase since 2020. Deferred membership of the LGPS has increased but is the smallest absolute and relative increase since 2014.
LGPS membership as a whole has continued to grow with an increase of 1.6% over the year.
| Year | Actives (000) | Deferreds (000) | Pensioners (000) | Total (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2014 | 1,821 | 1,732 | 1,459 | 5,012 |
| 31 March 2015 | 1,870 | 1,798 | 1,487 | 5,155 |
| 31 March 2016 | 1,914 | 1,881 | 1,540 | 5,335 |
| 31 March 2017 | 1,941 | 2,052 | 1,625 | 5,619 |
| 31 March 2018 | 2,011 | 2,167 | 1,685 | 5,863 |
| 31 March 2019 | 1,957 | 2,214 | 1,728 | 5,899 |
| 31 March 2020 | 2,019 | 2,307 | 1,833 | 6,160 |
| 31 March 2021 | 2,018 | 2,328 | 1,881 | 6,226 |
| 31 March 2022 | 2,049 | 2,384 | 1,955 | 6,388 |
| 31 March 2023 | 2,090 | 2,398 | 2,006 | 6,494 |
| Increase (decrease) 2015 | 1.0% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Increase (decrease) 2016 | 0.6% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2.6% |
| Increase (decrease) 2017 | 1.2% | 4.1% | 2.1% | 7.5% |
| Increase (decrease) 2018 | 0.8% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 3.1% |
| Increase (decrease) 2019 | -0.9% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Increase (decrease) 2020 | 1.1% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 4.4% |
| Increase (decrease) 2021 | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 1.1% |
| Increase (decrease) 2022 | 0.5% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 2.6% |
| Increase (decrease) 2023 | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 1.6% |
*growth in the sections of membership calculated relative to the total.
| Year | Actives | Deferreds | Pensioners | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2014 | 36.3% | 34.6% | 29.1% | 100% |
| 31 March 2015 | 36.3% | 34.9% | 28.8% | 100% |
| 31 March 2016 | 35.9% | 35.3% | 28.9% | 100% |
| 31 March 2017 | 34.6% | 36.5% | 28.9% | 100% |
| 31 March 2018 | 34.3% | 37.0% | 28.7% | 100% |
| 31 March 2019 | 33.2% | 37.5% | 29.3% | 100% |
| 31 March 2020 | 32.8% | 37.5% | 29.8% | 100% |
| 31 March 2021 | 32.4% | 37.4% | 30.2% | 100% |
| 31 March 2022 | 32.1% | 37.3% | 30.1% | 100% |
| 31 March 2023 | 32.2% | 36.9% | 30.9% | 100% |
Employers
The total number of employers with active contributing members was 13,802* compared to 14,992 in 2022. Before 2020 a figure for total number of employers was accumulated. This figure included funds who reported a total based on employers with active, deferred and/or pensioner members and others who reported a total number of employers only with active members. This total figure is considered too inconsistent to report and was amended to include only employers with active membership.
* This figure does not include 8 funds as they did not provide numbers of employers so is not comparable to previous years.
Since 2014, CIPFA annual report guidance has required provision of a table showing employers broken down by scheduled bodies and admitted bodies, and also by those with active members and those with no active members but with some outstanding liabilities. Tables were only provided in 91% of instances (excluding funds from which annual reports were not available).
| Fund administering authority type | Count of funds | Average number of active employers per fund |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Districts | 5 | 477 |
| County Councils/Unitaries | 38 | 258 |
| London Boroughs | 31 | 51 |
| Wales | 8 | 45 |
| Other | 5 | 137 |
The chart shows how the average number of employers differs between the types of administering authority. County council administered funds typically have more participating employers compared with London boroughs. The ‘Other’ category comprises the London Pensions Fund Authority, South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, the Environment Agency funds and the City of London.
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