The market value of the Local Government Pension Schemes in England and Wales grew by 21 per cent in 2016/17.

According to a report from the Department for Communities and Local Government, the total market value of LGPS funds in 2016/17 in England and Wales grew by £45bn to £259bn at the end of March 2017.

The local government schemes’ total expenditure in the period was £11.8bn; removing the impact of the merger of the Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth Pension Funds from 1 October 2016, there was a like-for-like increase of £0.4bn.

Expenditure on benefits in 2016/17 amounted to £9.5bn, an increase of £0.3bn or 3.2 per cent from 2015/16. This comprised of a £7.7bn expenditure on pensions and annuities (an increase of £0.2bn or 3.4 per cent), and an expenditure of £1.5bn on lump sums paid at retirement (an increase of £17m or 1.1 per cent on the previous period).

Total employer contributions were £7.4bn, an increase of £0.3bn or 4.8 per cent on 2015/16 and employee contributions increased by £9m or 0.4 per cent to £2.1bn in the same period.

Costs charged to the LGPS funds rose by £73m to £1bn in 2016/17.

The LGPS in England and Wales had a total of 5.6 million members at the end of March 2017. This was made up of two million employees still contributing to the scheme, 1.6 million pensioners and two million former employees who are entitled to a pension at some point in the future.

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