Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration Debate
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Amanda Martin
Main Page: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)Department Debates - View all Amanda Martin's debates with the Cabinet Office
Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration
Amanda Martin Excerpts(1 day, 10 hours ago)
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Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) for securing this important debate on a crisis affecting thousands of public servants who find themselves without the pension they have earned and, in some cases, without any income at all. These people have paid into a scheme throughout their careers with the reasonable expectation that when they retire they will get their money—it is their deferred salary. Instead, we have witnessed from MyCSP and Capita nothing short of a shambles.
The previous Government awarded Capita a seven-year contract worth £239 million to administer the scheme, even though the warning signs were there. Where are Conservative Members today to answer and apologise? It is shameful. The result has been chaos. I want to highlight the human impact and share the experiences of some of my constituents who are bearing the brunt of the failure.
One, a former Ministry of Defence employee, was medically retired on 11 December. His lump sum and monthly payments were due to start on the 12th, but he has received nothing. Another constituent retired from the Office for National Statistics on 27 November after giving four months’ notice. He was told his lump sum would be paid within one week, but he has received nothing. A constituent who has worked for HMRC for 26 years is due to retire but cannot get a pension quote from Capita, so she cannot plan her retirement or make informed decisions. A constituent who retired from HMRC on 30 December is waiting for a lump sum of £94,000. Capita has confirmed receipt of his documents, but he has received nothing. Finally, I want to mention a constituent who worked in naval fleet support for 38 years. He decided in June 2025 to retire. Since then, the communication has been abysmal and he has received not a single penny of his pension.
Those are not isolated cases. These delays are causing genuine hardship. People are unable to pay their bills, depleting their savings and borrowing from family members, and some are borrowing from other sources, which is costing them even more. The stress that this situation is causing is horrendous. I acknowledge that the Government have appointed an expert recovery team led by Angela MacDonald and I welcome the hardship loans plan. However, that does not address the fact that a flawed procurement process selected a contractor that was not ready to go live.
I am calling for transparency—Capita must publish detailed performance data—and accountability. The Cabinet Office must make full use of its contractual rights. If Capita fails to meet recovery plan milestones, there must be serious consideration of whether it should continue to hold the contract. Finally, there should be compensation for those who have suffered financial hardship because of Capita. This crisis raises fundamental questions about how we contract out the administration of critical public services.