Reeves to lay out plans to merge pension pots of local authorities

Rachel Reeves will announce plans to merge local government retirement schemes into "megafunds" as she tries to revive long-running efforts to reform the public pension system.

- Kalyeena Makortoff

The chancellor will tell an audience of City leaders and chief executives today that she will introduce a pensions bill next year that will aim to pool assets frorn the 86 separate local government pension schemes (LGPS), which together make up one ofthe world's largest defined-benefit schemes, with 6.5 million members and £360bn in assets.

The decision is meant to mirror similar setups in Australia and Canada, where public sector pension schemes have been consolidated into larger funds that are managed in-house by professional investors.