Preparing the Annual Report: Guidance for Local Government Pension Scheme Funds (2019 Edition)

The annual report is a key component of communication between pension funds and their stakeholders, who range from individual members and employing bodies to trades unions. In Scotland and Wales the pension fund accounts are no longer included in the administering authority’s financial statements, therefore their annual reports must contain sufficient information to meet the demands of this diverse readership.

The purpose of this guidance is to assist local government pension funds with the preparation and publication of the annual report required by Regulation 57 of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (England and Wales) and Regulation 55 of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2018.

A great deal has changed since the last edition of this guidance was published in 2014. National asset pools, new legislation on investing, governance and benefits, and changes to year-end reporting deadlines have brought new challenges for practitioners together with a continued focus on funding levels and investment management costs.

The guidance uses a combination of descriptive text and worked examples to explain how each requirement can be achieved in practice. It incorporates the recommendations of the Local Government Scheme Advisory Board’s Transparency Code and the CIPFA paper Proposals for Post Pool Reporting (published May 2018), both which are relevant to pension fund annual reports.

For ease of reference the publication also contains an annual report checklist.

This publication is only available as a downloadable PDF. Customers and subscribers will need to login to CIPFA’s website to access the publication.