Local Audit Office joins LGPS; Wolverhampton to administer

The Local Audit Office becomes a scheme employer in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) on 23 November 2026Legislation, making its employees eligible for scheme membershipLegislation. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026Legislation insert the Office into the list of scheme employers in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013Legislation, and add a corresponding entry to the pension-fund table in Part 2 of Schedule 3Legislation, naming Wolverhampton City Council as the appropriate administering authority for the Office's employeesLegislation.

The effect is eligibility plus administration. From commencement, a person employed by the Local Audit Office can be admitted to the LGPS as an employee of a listed scheme employerLegislation, with liabilities and contributions channelled through the fund administered by Wolverhampton City CouncilLegislation. The operative amendments are confined to Schedules 2 and 3, and the instrument's extent is England and Wales.

The amendments are consequential on the establishment of the Local Audit Office under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026Legislation. The Office is a body corporate established by section 1A of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. The Regulations were made on 28 October 2026 by the Secretary of State in exercise of the consequential-amendment power in section 103(1) of the 2026 Act, laid before Parliament on 29 October 2026, and come into force on 23 November 2026Legislation. They were signed by Jim McMahon, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. No impact assessment was produced for the instrument, on the basis that no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen; the assessment for the 2026 Act itself remains the reference point.

Payroll, pensions and HR teams at the Local Audit Office and at Wolverhampton City CouncilLegislation should treat 23 November 2026 as the operative dateLegislation: enrol eligible Office employees through the administering authority's fund processes, align employer-contribution and data flows with the fund, and update starter and onboarding material that describes pension eligibility.

Legal basis: the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1138), amending Schedules 2 and 3 to the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013Legislation (SI 2013/2356).