The Government Actuary Department (GAD) has concluded that the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is in a strong financial position.

Its report revealed that its overall funding has improved from 94 per cent in 2014 to 102 per cent in 2017.

The findings come in the GAD’s first formal review of the 15 funds in LGPS Scotland, which assesses their actuarial valuations as at 31 March 2017 by examining the funds’ compliance, consistency, solvency and long-term cost efficiency.

The GAD report, carried out under section 13 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, is based on the actuarial valuations alongside other data provided by the funds and their actuaries.

It did, however, make two recommendations, advising the Scottish Public Pensions Agency to consider the standard way of presenting relevant disclosures adopted for LGPS England and Wales valuation reports, as at March 2019.

The GAD also encouraged LGPS Scotland to develop a basis for standardised calculations, in addition to the funding calculations, to enable cross-comparison of funds.

It stated: “The report concluded the LGPS Scotland fund valuations were compliant with relevant regulations, and there are no concerns over the funds’ solvency or long-term cost efficiency.”

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