In the wake of the recent election it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the UK public pensions landscape as it currently stands. As became increasingly clear over the course of 2014 and early this year, the consultation into the future shape of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) was put to one side as attention turned towards the ballot box.

The incoming team at the Department for Communities and Local Government will, however, play a pivotal role in the future of UK public pensions. This is a challenging and interesting time for UK public pensions, and we hope the LGPS consultation will be firmly back on the agenda in the coming weeks.

Across the industry, there is a growing consensus that there is a need for change, not just within the LGPS – which has a combined deficit of some £47bn according to the latest figures from the LGPS advisory board – but within public pensions as a whole.