Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration

I beg to move,

That this House has considered administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful to my colleagues for attending this morning’s debate. After reading many emails from constituents, it is clear that the issue before us today is not just an admin problem. It has caused real worry, stress and financial hardship to people who spent decades serving the public, trusting that their pension would be paid properly and on time. The scale of the problem is now very large and affects people across the country.

Since Capita took over running the scheme on 1 December 2025, the Public and Commercial Services Union has been flooded with complaints. Members report long delays, mixed messages and very poor service. This is happening while there is a large backlog of cases passed on from the previous provider, MyCSP. Thousands of people are now stuck waiting. The result is stress, uncertainty and real financial hardship, which is not acceptable. The seriousness of it has been accepted at the highest level. Last week Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, wrote to civil servants to admit that the service being provided falls short of what members should expect.

A couple of weeks ago at Prime Minister’s questions I raised the issue of a very young civil servant trying to access her pension as she has only months to live. It was an exceptionally difficult and heartrending story, but thankfully, because of the appearance of her case at Prime Minister’s questions, the issue was resolved shortly afterwards. The point that was made then and since is that it should not take raising something at Prime Minister’s questions to get issues resolved. We need to get Capita, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and the Cabinet Office or whoever to sort the issues out as quickly as possible.

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. The seriousness of it has been accepted at the highest level. As I was saying, Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, wrote to the civil servants to admit that the service falls short of what members should expect. That alone should worry us all. We have also seen reports that some former civil servants have been left without any pension income at all because payments have not been made since Capita took over.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. We can see by the numbers here how serious it is. I have heard from a number of constituents, as she has, in the situation she describes. Heartbreakingly, one constituent, Collette Reeves, retired at the end of last year to care for her husband who has been diagnosed with dementia, and she is now struggling to pay her bills because of the delays. Despite repeated attempts to get answers, she has got nowhere in accessing her pension or getting support from the interim emergency fund. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that the performance of Capita since it took over falls woefully short of what we should expect and that it is crucial for our constituents to get clarity on how to access the interim fund as a matter of emergency?

I agree. Some retirees have had to borrow money just to pay bills because their expected pension payments or lump sums have not arrived, and no clear timescale has been given for when they will. This is not a one-off mistake; it is part of a longer pattern. The Public Accounts Committee has made it clear that successive Governments have failed for years to manage the outsourced contract properly.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this very important debate. PCS members in my constituency were on strike for a long time last year because of the failures by MyCSP. Capita had the contract before and failed. Does my hon. Friend agree that those people who have been waiting and struggling need to be compensated as soon as possible?

I absolutely do agree with you.

The move to Capita was meant to modernise the system and improve services. Instead, it has exposed poor planning and weak control. Since the transfer, the scheme has struggled to work properly. There have been late pension payments, missing lump sums, lost records, broken systems and long delays in answering calls.

I was contacted by a constituent who is a former civil servant. They waited on the so-called helpline for over two hours on six occasions and were cut off continually. It is a contradiction in terms to call it a helpline. Does the hon. Member agree that that is completely unacceptable behaviour from Capita?

I do agree with you; it is completely unacceptable.

Order. I remind Members that when they say “you”, they are referring to me. It is the same convention as in the Chamber.

I apologise, Ms Lewell.

The scheme cannot even say how many people are still waiting for their first pension payout. From what we are hearing, it is clearly thousands. Behind those failures are real people. I want to share some examples of constituents who have agreed that their cases may be raised.

John was a prison officer for 25 years. He has been receiving just a fraction of his pension for several months. He was left on hold for two hours in December, only to be told that there was nothing Capita could do about it. Robert emailed to tell me that while the loan system is seen as a lifeline by many, Capita seems to be completely unequipped to deal with it. He says that some of his former colleagues are even being directed to charities and Citizens Advice.

Like the hon. Lady, I have a litany of complaints from constituents about the service they have received, and she is doing a brilliant job of highlighting the real-world impact of these delays. I have a constituent who spent 36 years in the police service and is currently unable to pay his mortgage or household bills. Another constituent spent 28 years at the Ministry of Defence and has been forced to take out loans and borrow money from family members. Is this any way to treat people who have dedicated their lives and their careers to public service?

I totally agree; this is not any way to treat our civil servants.

Elaine has been waiting for a pension forecast since early December. She came to see me in January because she cannot plan her retirement at all. She does not know whether she can retire, when she can retire or what income she will have. Julie partly retired at the start of January after applying for her pension back in August. She has still not been paid. She waited five hours on the phone and was told that no timescale could be given. She and her family are worried about paying bills, growing debts and whether her pension will be backdated.

Paul retired from the Ministry of Defence last July, but seven months later he has not received any pension and is living off his savings, with no clear answers. Alison retired and sent in her paperwork in September. She was told that it would be done by December, only to be told later that there was no record of her case and she should write to a PO box address.

Paul retired after 30 years of service. His forms were sent in on time. He has received no lump sum, no pension and no timescale. Julie has worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for 26 years. She carefully planned partial retirement and sent her forms months in advance. Her retirement date is now close and yet she still has no pension forecast. Diane contacted my office about her husband, also a civil servant, who was diagnosed last year with a serious brain tumour. They have been waiting months for a pension forecast so that they can plan their future.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. Like her, I have received a litany of complaints in recent weeks from constituents—including Antoni, Catherine, Christopher, Kevin, Mike and Robert—with similar heartbreaking stories. Does she agree that it is important we take urgent action to ensure that consistent and timely pension payments are made for all these scheme members in our constituencies?

I agree. Peter reached state pension age and gave plenty of notice, but heard nothing. After waiting three hours on the phone, he was told that nothing had been done. He retired in good faith, but the system let him down.

Such cases are not rare. PCS has heard from people who cannot pay their rent or mortgages, who have missed bill payments, who have been charged fees by banks, who are borrowing money or relying on family, and who are suffering serious stress. Some widows or widowers wait months for their late partner’s pension. This is a human crisis. PCS has said that up to 8,500 people may have retired without receiving their pension. For many, this pension is their only income and, when it does not arrive, the impact is immediate and severe. This is a failure on a huge scale.

I also want to mention retired prison officers such as my constituent John, whose cases have been raised by the POA. They have worked in tough and dangerous jobs, and many now face delayed pensions and missing lump sums. The POA is right to call for urgent action, clear timescales and fair compensation.

Public servants in Bournemouth East who gave decades of their lives are struggling after providing service to all of us. Probation officers, youth justice workers, prison staff and court clerks are struggling while Capita makes mistake after mistake. Does my hon. Friend agree that being good at winning public service contracts is not the same as being good at delivering them, and that we need accountability where people’s lives have been harmed?

I agree.

The hon. Lady is making an excellent speech, and we are all grateful for the opportunity to raise these cases. I have been contacted by a constituent who left the civil service in 1992 and, more than 30 years later, has still not received the pension that she is owed, despite providing proof of service from HMRC and making repeated transfer requests. Despite the fact that the civil service later located her superannuation file, the scheme continued to insist that no record existed. Does the hon. Lady agree that such cases show that the failure is not just delay but deep-rooted maladministration within our state, and that the Government must commit to ensuring people are paid the pensions that they are legally entitled to?