Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration

Euan Stainbank Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell.

Those who serve the public deserve dignity and respect as they go into retirement, but, after a lifetime putting their shoulder to the wheel to keep the country running, that is not what my constituents in Falkirk who have been impacted by these delays feel that they are receiving. They feel utterly let down by MyCSP and Capita.

When Capita won the contract under the Tories, it promised the world—improvements to service levels and response times—and justified proposed staff reductions through a more efficient IT system. Given the value of the contract and Capita’s reputation at the time, following the management of the teachers’ pension scheme, serious questions arise for the Tory then-Ministers about whether the contract should have been signed off in November 2023.

Transitional arrangements between MyCSP and Capita failed to plan for the scale of the backlog and the required additional staffing, as the Public Accounts Committee warned in October. Those warnings were not heeded, and that has had human consequences. Mary was supposed to retire with her pension last week, but without any time to make alternative plans and after hours on the phone, she was callously told to wait her turn, months after applying and of the ball being firmly in Capita’s court. After a workplace injury forced Andrew to retire after 40 years guarding Scotland’s prisons, he has not received his pension or the capability payment tied to his scheme. Multiple more constituents have been waiting nine months and counting to receive death in service payments following their spouses’ tragically passing away. This situation is directly responsible for their financial hardship and for aggravating the emotional devastation that they feel.

Those facing hardship and crisis and those at imminent risk of retirement with no income must be prioritised in the backlog. I have written, and will continue to write to both the Minister and Capita with each of their stories. I welcome the interest-free hardship loans of up to £5,000 and £10,000 for those in exceptional circumstances secured by Labour Ministers. Those must move at pace for those in Falkirk and across the country who urgently need support.

Capita must urgently state what additional resources it is providing to clear the backlog so that the crisis is fixed and paid for by the taxpayer-funded contractor, and not any more than is necessary by the taxpayer swooping in to the rescue. Once the backlog and crisis is cleared, the recovery team must have a clear mandate to consider whether reversing this failed privatisation, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) referred to it, is the right way forward. Once the crisis is resolved, all contractual options available to the Cabinet Office must be considered. I have heard that this contract is stronger than the preceding MyCSP contract. Will the Minister say in what way it is stronger, and what further actions will be considered once the priority work for people who are sitting waiting on their pensions is completed?