Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, has confirmed that the government will be sticking to the March 2026 deadline for Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) pooling work, with plans to meet with each of the eight funds over the coming weeks to inform this.

Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025, Bell stressed that asset pooling is an “important step” in reducing fragmentation in the LGPS.

He also suggested that there is a lot of progress already underway in this area, confirming that the government is now working through the LGPS pooling transition proposals put forward in response to its consultation on plans to encourage further consolidation in the LGPS.

“We put the onus on the LGPS to come forward with creative and collaborative plans and we are now considering the proposals have met that ask,” he stated.

“You have also asked for clarity as quickly as possible, and I'm delighted to be meeting each and every pool in the next few week.

“And because it is important that concrete progress is made, I'm today confirmed that we will plan to stick to the timeline of March 2026.

“The pooling project began 10 years ago. By this time next year, our world class LGPS will be made-up of large pools of professionally managed capital, accountable to authorities by robust government structures and delivering for members and their communities.”

Bell also suggested that consolidation and pooling more broadly is already the direction of travel for the pensions industry, suggesting that the government is “merely providing extra wind into the consolidation processes’ sails”.

“It’s time for Britain to start investing in its future again,” he stated. “Again, this shift to investing in a wider range of assets is again one we are encouraging rather than instigating.

“Of course, some smaller schemes deliver great value for money,” he acknowledged. “But for the market as a whole, and savers on average, consolidation is desirable.”

In particular, Bell highlighted benefits around larger schemes ability to invest in more productive asset classes, as well as helping reducing costs and increase bargaining power.

However, Bell admitted that “scale of course is an enabler of change, and it is very far from a silver bullet”, instead making up “ne part of interlocking reforms”, including reforms to focus more on value, and less narrowly on cost or price.

He also acknowledged the need to improve the availability of investable assets for institutional investors such as pension funds, emphasising that more investment in the UK “requires a supply of investable propositions, not just the existence of capital”.

“We have already got back in the habit of swiftly granting permissions for the likes of solar farms and reservoirs. Permissions which previously policy makers seem to have decided Britain could do without,” he continued.

“And today we’ve introduced the Planning Bill to make sure we do get homes and infrastructure built.

“If we’re going to invest once again, we have to make it possible to build it once again.”

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