Civil Service Pension Scheme

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right. We have already done so, and Capita confirmed in writing in April that it will meet the costs that we have laid out.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, following on from the question from the noble Lord, Lord Spellar, is it not a fact that government has become vulnerable because so many services have been outsourced and there are very few companies that can win contracts? Therefore, there is not much option but to use Capita. Do we not have to rethink the whole question of government capacity and outsourcing?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right, which is why the Cabinet Office issued updated guidance about public procurement last week in line with our manifesto. The reality is that there were few businesses of the scale that could manage a complex pension scheme such as the Civil Service Pension Scheme. It remains clear government policy to advance insourcing, and this pension scheme is a prime candidate for future insourcing once immediate operational stability is secured. The contract remains under intensive taskforce oversight, but if performance fails to improve, absolutely all further commercial, legal and operational options remain on the table—for this or any other contract.