dmkelly,
Not sure about making contributions to your personal scheme while you are on contract but if you leave the L.A. within 2 years, I think you are obliged to take a refund of contributions, less a tax deduction. If you end up working there for over 2 years, when you you reach retirement age you will have a preserved pension from the L.A. in question. If in the future you ended up working in the public sector again, you could transfer your service and preserved pension to your new public sector employer, effectively amalgamating the two. For the moment, you should contact the HR section of the L.A. and discuss the issues with the person who deals with superannuation. You should also try and get a copy of the Superann. scheme for local authorities - try the Dept of Environments website or google it.