Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration
Daniel Francis Excerpts(5 days, 9 hours ago)
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Lorraine Beavers
I totally agree; this is not any way to treat our civil servants.
Elaine has been waiting for a pension forecast since early December. She came to see me in January because she cannot plan her retirement at all. She does not know whether she can retire, when she can retire or what income she will have. Julie partly retired at the start of January after applying for her pension back in August. She has still not been paid. She waited five hours on the phone and was told that no timescale could be given. She and her family are worried about paying bills, growing debts and whether her pension will be backdated.
Paul retired from the Ministry of Defence last July, but seven months later he has not received any pension and is living off his savings, with no clear answers. Alison retired and sent in her paperwork in September. She was told that it would be done by December, only to be told later that there was no record of her case and she should write to a PO box address.
Paul retired after 30 years of service. His forms were sent in on time. He has received no lump sum, no pension and no timescale. Julie has worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for 26 years. She carefully planned partial retirement and sent her forms months in advance. Her retirement date is now close and yet she still has no pension forecast. Diane contacted my office about her husband, also a civil servant, who was diagnosed last year with a serious brain tumour. They have been waiting months for a pension forecast so that they can plan their future.
Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. Like her, I have received a litany of complaints in recent weeks from constituents—including Antoni, Catherine, Christopher, Kevin, Mike and Robert—with similar heartbreaking stories. Does she agree that it is important we take urgent action to ensure that consistent and timely pension payments are made for all these scheme members in our constituencies?
Lorraine Beavers
I agree. Peter reached state pension age and gave plenty of notice, but heard nothing. After waiting three hours on the phone, he was told that nothing had been done. He retired in good faith, but the system let him down.
Such cases are not rare. PCS has heard from people who cannot pay their rent or mortgages, who have missed bill payments, who have been charged fees by banks, who are borrowing money or relying on family, and who are suffering serious stress. Some widows or widowers wait months for their late partner’s pension. This is a human crisis. PCS has said that up to 8,500 people may have retired without receiving their pension. For many, this pension is their only income and, when it does not arrive, the impact is immediate and severe. This is a failure on a huge scale.
I also want to mention retired prison officers such as my constituent John, whose cases have been raised by the POA. They have worked in tough and dangerous jobs, and many now face delayed pensions and missing lump sums. The POA is right to call for urgent action, clear timescales and fair compensation.
Oral Answers to Questions
Daniel Francis Excerpts(8 months ago)
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Ms Oppong-Asare
We like to work with the Northern Ireland Executive on this issue. It is important that we share best practice and deal with the problems across the board.
Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)
Susan Murray (Mid Dunbartonshire) (LD)
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Pat McFadden)
Cyber-defence is an important part of our national security, with daily attacks against Government, businesses and individuals. Members across the House will have seen the recent attacks against British household names such as Marks & Spencer and the Co-op and, indeed, the Government’s own Legal Aid Agency. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced that responsibility for public sector and Government cyber-security will sit with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. That will strengthen technological resilience by better integrating cyber-security and expertise into the Government Digital Service.
Daniel Francis
In recent weeks, we have seen a series of cyber-attacks on retailers, including on my former employer, Marks & Spencer, and on Government services such as the Legal Aid Agency. Will the Minister update the House on what discussions he has had with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and others to ensure that these incidents are dealt with as swiftly as possible and that more is done to prevent such attacks succeeding in the future?
Pat McFadden
Earlier this week, I met the chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, which works with impacted organisations to investigate what has happened and who is responsible and to help them rebuild. It has been working with all the organisations that have been hit by recent cyber-attacks. I also made a speech about these issues at the CYBERUK conference in Manchester a few weeks ago.
Oral Answers to Questions
Daniel Francis Excerpts(1 year ago)
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Pat McFadden
The hon. Gentleman is quite right to point out the advantages that can come from these things. I am reluctant to make specific announcements about funding for specific projects. However, the Government are determined not only to make the UK a good home for investment in AI, which will be huge around the world in the coming years, but to make the best possible use of AI in the delivery of public services, which we believe can get good value for money and better outcomes for the public. The road will not always be easy, and there will be things that go wrong, but frankly, with our tradition of creativity and innovation, we want to grasp this technology and make the best use of it.
Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)
Yesterday, the Government announced ambitious new legislation to take action on fraud, updating the Department for Work and Pensions’ powers for the first time in 20 years and introducing new powers to take on high-value fraud across the wider public sector. At the Budget, the Chancellor announced the biggest welfare fraud and error budget in recent history. Under the last Government, fraud spiralled out of control, but we are determined to protect every pound of taxpayers’ money.
Daniel Francis
I thank my hon. Friend for her answer. One of the biggest scandals that we saw under the last Conservative Government was Ministers giving out dodgy covid contracts to their friends and donors. Will the Minister update the House on what steps the Government are taking to ensure that there will never again be a repeat of that shameful behaviour and that where the public have been defrauded, we will get our money back?
Georgia Gould
My hon. Friend, as a local government leader during the pandemic, will know how hard things were for communities; sacrifices were made and people risked their lives to keep the rest of us safe. He will share my anger at those who used the national crisis to steal billions from the taxpayer. We will take action on that where the last Government failed. The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which was introduced yesterday, will give the Government tough new powers to investigate and recover money stolen from the public and will double the time we have to bring those fraudsters to justice.
Oral Answers to Questions
Daniel Francis Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)
The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)
I draw the House’s attention to Islamophobia Awareness Month. No one in our country should be targeted because of their faith or race, and British Muslims are a crucial part of Britain’s history and society.
More widely, the Office for Equality and Opportunity is already making great strides. The new Employment Rights Bill will legislate for a stronger duty to prevent sexual harassment, and action plans will cover the gender pay gap and menopause issues. We will open a consultation on extending pay gap reporting and equal pay rights to ethnic minorities and disabled people.
Daniel Francis
The disability charity Sense estimates that 200,000 disabled children across the UK are struggling to get the right school support, because of funding issues and a need to employ more multisensory impairment teachers to ensure deafblind children can access education. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure disabled children are represented in the forthcoming children’s wellbeing Bill?
Bridget Phillipson
My hon. Friend champions the rights of disabled children. He is right to do so because when it comes to support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, the system we have at the moment just is not working, as shown all too clearly by the recent National Audit Office report. I am determined to listen to parents, experts, charities and others to ensure we reform the system to provide more timely intervention and support for children and families, and ensure all children in our country are able to thrive.