Government to remove LGPS investment power from Pension Schemes Bill

Published: September 4, 2025

The government has proposed to remove a paragraph in the Pension Schemes Bill that would have given it the power to direct investments by LGPS asset pools.

The sub-clause in the current draft of the Pension Schemes Bill outlines a provision to enable “the Secretary of State, in prescribed circumstances, to give a direction to an asset pool company… requiring it to take, or not to take, a specified decision in carrying out any specified investment management activities”.

This is separate from the investment mandation clause directed at private sector defined contribution pension schemes, which remains in place despite strong lobbying from pensions industry trade bodies.

An amendment published this week and tabled by pensions minister Torsten Bell proposes to delete the sentence. In an accompanying explanatory statement, Bell said it was “not considered necessary”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions told LAPF Investment’s sister title Pensions Expert that the government “respects the longstanding independence of the LGPS and the fiduciary responsibilities of the funds and pool companies”.

“It is not the government’s intention to intervene in individual investment decisions by the pools,” the spokesperson added.

This article first appeared on LAPF Investment’s sister title Pensions Expert. 

More Related Content...