Council employers and trade unions are quietly celebrating the proposed deal over Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) reforms, after the Treasury backed down on plans for steep contribution increases – something town halls warned could lead to a mass exodus.

After months of negotiations, the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed on 31 May it had reached a provisional deal with unions over reforms to the £150bn LGPS, designed to retain scheme membership and ease rising costs to taxpayers. Both parties will now consult on the proposals, but early indications are the core reforms are likely to be approved before being introduced in 2014.