Civil Service Pension Scheme: Insourcing

6. What recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of insourcing the civil service pension scheme.

I thank my hon. Friend for his engagement on this issue, which we have spoken about several times; he is a powerful advocate for his constituents. He will understand that we are currently prioritising and focusing on immediate service recovery. If Capita fails to restore core pension functions to contractual levels by the end of June, we will consider all available options to rectify the situation. We are preparing and planning for all eventualities.

Capita has been fined millions for a multitude of past failures and has now failed to handle civil service pensions on a contract that the Tories signed off in November 2023, replacing MyCSP, which faced similar challenges. That has been to the significant detriment of many of my constituents, who are still waiting for payment—one is retired after receiving lifesaving surgery last year, and another is still waiting for payment 11 months on from being bereaved after the death of his wife. Will the Minister—I hope that the Government can answer this closer to the end of June—directly address Capita’s failure, end the contract and insource the civil service pension scheme?

My hon. Friend is right to highlight that outsourcing by default does not work, and I agree with his assessment of Capita’s unacceptable failures. Our priority remains supporting those impacted and achieving full service recovery. As I mentioned, if Capita fails to deliver on that by the end of June, all options will be considered. Subject to your agreement, Mr Speaker, my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General intends to make a statement to the House on the Government’s next steps.