Civil Service Pensions: Capita

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Davies of Brixton]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking in light of recent reports of problems arising from the transfer of Civil Service Pensions administration to Capita.

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, the service being experienced by some members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme is totally unacceptable, and I apologise for the distress caused to members. We have established a recovery taskforce led by HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and have deployed a 150-person government surge team to help to support recovery of this service. Interest-free bridging loans of £5,000, and up to £10,000 exceptionally, are available for those in hardship. We are holding Capita to account through rigorous performance indicators and financial penalties.

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her Answer and I am pleased to hear that the Government are seized of the seriousness of the situation. I hope my noble friend has had the opportunity to read the Westminster Hall debate yesterday, when MP after MP, speaking on behalf of their constituents, described the extreme circumstances that they were facing, from the bereaved not receiving death benefits to new pensioners having to wait months for their benefits. Obviously, the priority must be to get benefits to members. However, does my noble friend agree with me that perhaps the answer lies in the Labour Party’s commitment to bring about

“the biggest wave of insourcing of public services for a generation”?

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

My Lords, it might be helpful if I lay out what the Government are doing. I know that many Members of your Lordships’ House may have been contacted for details, not least because they may be members of this scheme. If there are specific concerns or cases that people have raised with Members of your Lordships’ House, I have sought assurances that we will have the same access to the services being provided to MPs for casework in this instance and can share details with noble Lords. As regards the contract and the issue of insourcing, this contract was signed in November 2023 and came into place last year. While there may be questions about insourcing and other contracts, that simply is not going to be able to be done with this contract.