Civil Service Pension Scheme

Debate between Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent and Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Lords Chamber

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

I thank my noble friend, and I am truly sorry for the experiences that his wife has had; I am pleased that she has now received her pension. My noble friend’s factual story is unfortunately all too familiar given recent events. He is absolutely right. The reality is that the Government are trying to fix what has clearly been broken while establishing the facts. We are trying to prioritise the most vulnerable and put in support processes. Then, it is fair to say, we will establish and determine exactly what went wrong and where, making sure this can never happen again.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, did the contract that was signed by the previous Government have penalties in it if the party failed to deliver what was required of them, and if so, are they being implemented?

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

I thank my noble friend. We have already withheld nearly £10 million in transition contract payments for undelivered milestones from Capita. This represents our continuous position that public funds will only ever pay for what is successfully delivered to the required standard, and this figure is not the sum total of withheld payments across the wider contract lifecycle. This is obviously only stage 1. I look forward to being able to further update your Lordships’ House next week.