Civil Service Pension Scheme

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Davies of Brixton]

To ask his Majesty’s Government what further steps they are taking to resolve difficulties being experienced with the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, in particular the failure to pay new pensioners.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, midnight tonight marks the deadline by which Capita promised a complete return to normal contractual service levels. We will hold Capita’s performance against this important milestone. The Minister for the Cabinet Office intends to provide a comprehensive update in the coming days, once we have fully evaluated the data. We have been consistently clear that we will not hesitate to take firm action for continued underperformance. I will endeavour to repeat any Statement in your Lordships’ House, subject to agreement by the usual channels.

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for her reply. The issue is getting a return to normal service standards, which was hoped to be achieved by June—by today—but clearly it simply has not happened. Many new pensioners are still losing their earnings income and not receiving their pension, leaving them in poverty. It is clearly an important and urgent matter. It is time to reconsider the contractual arrangements, but I hope my noble friend will agree that the important issue now is urgent action to help those facing poverty.