Anyone know about the LGPS rules about working after taking your pension?

[pensionqueries]

I am thinking of retiring very early, on a pittance as I dont have much of a pension, but then later after a year or so, going back to work for either the same LA or another one, or another public body that may well use the LGPS

Is this allowed? I looked it up and it seems to be allowed without losing any payment of pension which Im surprised about. Will I pay any of the pension back if I do this?

You are generally allowed to return to work for an LGPS employer (the same or another similar authority) after retiring and drawing your pension. However, how it impacts your pension depends on the specific rules of your local fund and how your retirement was originally handled.

If you built up pension rights before 1 April 2014, local administering authorities retain discretionary powers to reduce or suspend your pension if your new salary plus your pension exceeds your pre-retirement salary. If you accrued benefits prior to 1 April 2014, you must immediately notify the LGPS fund paying your pension about your new job. If all your benefits were built up after this date, you generally do not need to inform them. Therefore you should check your specific fund's policy.

I only started paying a pension after October 2014 so that should be ok by the sounds of it?

You probably need to check with your pension organisation. When I did this I couldn’t earn more than my previous annual salary. So say salary was £45000 Pa my pension plus my new salary had to be less - so say pension of £10000 Pa I could only have a job paying £34999.

Thanks, that is with a local authority/local government I would imagine?

So if I had more than my previous salary coming in, in total but the income was made up of my pension and locum work/private company, that would be allowed perhaps?

Im finding it hard to get through to the organisation to organise an appointment.

Yes it was, if you go private you are fine. Sometimes there is a list of organisations- ask your pension people. X

LGPS rules do generally allow you to return to work for an LGPS employer after taking your pension — you can draw your pension and earn a salary at the same time without having to pay it back. However the rules around abatement, re-enrolment and whether your new employer automatically re-enrols you into LGPS can get complicated depending on the role and employer.
Worth checking the specifics of your situation — ukworkrights.co.uk has a free pension rights checker that covers this, no login needed.