Oral Answers to Questions

Sally Jameson Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

15. What recent steps her Department has taken to tackle issues impacting the civil service pension scheme.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Sally Jameson)]

Current service levels are completely unacceptable, and we are holding Capita accountable by withholding payments in the short term and assessing the long-term viability of bringing the scheme in-house. We will continue to use the most stringent commercial levers we have under this contract—which was signed by the last Government—to ensure we have full accountability.

[Darren Paffey]

I welcome my hon. Friend to her place, and thank her for her answer. In Southampton Itchen, I have constituents who have been deprived of their pension for many months. One waited over a year even for an accurate quotation, another is yet to receive a penny after 40 years of service, and one with stage 4 cancer took three months to get any money—and even then, only after I had nagged a Minister to intervene. When I was a Southampton city councillor, we ended Capita’s contract and took those services back in-house. Is it not time for the Government to consider doing the same?

[Sally Jameson]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising his constituents’ cases. I have had many similar cases in Doncaster. I assure him and his constituents that I am using all the levers at my disposal to ensure that Capita delivers a better performance at the earliest possible time. We have set out our intention to advance the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation, and we are now actively shaping a long-term strategy to look at what it would look like if we brought the pension scheme back in-house. He will be aware of our manifesto commitment to have the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation, and I am committed to fulfilling that.

[Mr Barros-Curtis]

I join my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) in warmly welcoming the Minister to her new position. In surgery after surgery, I too have examples of Capita failing to do its job. The latest example was in a surgery just the other week, where I met my constituent Craig, who has received no pension payment or calculation since July. Will the Minister please look into Craig’s case and do everything she can to give Capita the boot?

[Sally Jameson]

Capita’s performance has been totally abysmal, and I too have raised it a number of times in this House. I can assure my hon. Friend that we will be holding Capita to account, including withholding nearly £10 million of contractual payments, because we will not pay for services that have not been delivered. If my hon. Friend writes to me, I will ensure that his case is investigated, and I will get back to him at the earliest possible opportunity.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

Despite dedicating their lives to public service through long careers in the civil service, many of my constituents have faced severe delays with their pension payments, causing them anxiety and financial hardship. How will the Minister ensure that her Department gives my constituents the support they need, that this crisis is resolved and, just as importantly, that it does not happen again?

[Sally Jameson]

An independent, Capita-funded remedial adviser has been appointed to identify service delivery issues and to allow us to continue to hold Capita fully accountable. Around 147 surge staff have been deployed in this crisis. The Government remain committed to maintaining resource levels. No team members will be withdrawn from that surge team until service levels are permanently fixed. As I have said in my previous answers, we are using all commercial levers at our disposal, including withholding those payments, so that Capita is held accountable. We are looking closely at options for bringing the pension scheme in-house.

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

Numerous constituents of mine have had the same problems with the civil service pension scheme run by Capita. One example is Ruth, whose husband worked for the Ministry of Defence and died in service nearly a year ago. She has been waiting 11 months for a death-in-service payment and pension. Capita promised to have this resolved, with all bereavement cases done by the end of August. It broke that promise. This week, she is still waiting. This is utterly unacceptable. I welcome the Minister saying that there will be penalties for Capita, but does she not recognise that this is such a clear example that outsourcing does not work? Will she ensure that Capita is not given contracts like this ever again?

[Sally Jameson]

I thank the hon. Member for raising her constituent’s experience, which I am sorry to hear about. I have many similar examples in my constituency, as I know have Members across the House. I hope to provide a more substantive update in October. As I have said previously, Capita’s performance is totally unacceptable. I will not defend it, and I will continue to hold Capita to account every single day that I am in office, until the service levels are brought back up to an acceptable standard and all our constituents have received the pensions that they should already have had—in the hon. Member’s constituency case, 11 months ago—and I will continue to do that. We are looking at bringing the pension scheme in-house, and we are looking at the different viable options to do that. In our manifesto we committed to the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation, and we are all committed to doing that.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

8. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the creation of new jobs in the AI industry.

--- Later in debate ---

[Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)]

T3. One of my constituents contacted me about her mother, who had worked for the Department for Work and Pensions since the age of 18 but sadly died before Capita released the pension she had earned through a lifetime of public service. Given the distress caused to families like hers by such delays, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that civil servants receive their pension payments promptly upon retirement?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Sally Jameson)]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that appalling case. Current service levels are completely unacceptable. We continue to use the most stringent commercial levers that we have under this contract, including withholding contractual payments. We have 147 surge staff deployed in this crisis. We will not be moving any of those team members until service levels are permanently fixed. If my hon. Friend would like to write to me, I will happily make sure that any of his future cases are looked at with urgency.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

T2. My constituent Simon gave 31 years’ service at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, supporting the Royal Navy. He contacted Capita in March, ahead of his retirement, and was assured that his pension would be sorted. The same promise was repeated in June and again in July. His case is still awaiting triage. Can the Minister say when the backlog will be cleared and when Simon can expect his pension?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Sally Jameson)]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that case. As I have said, Capita’s performance is diabolical. I will not make any excuses for it from the Dispatch Box —there are no excuses for it—but we are holding Capita to account every day. As I said, we have deployed 147 surge staff to help during this crisis—they will not be removed until service levels are brought up to scratch—we are withholding contractual payments, and an independent Capita-funded remedial adviser has been appointed to identify further issues. If the hon. Lady writes to me about that case, I will ensure that it is escalated.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

It has been nearly two years since the contaminated blood inquiry report was published. People think that the matter is finished, but it is not: some 18,000 infected and affected individuals still have not begun their claims. Will my right hon. Friend reaffirm to this House her commitment to the contaminated blood community, and will she meet the all-party parliamentary group on haemophilia and contaminated blood so that we can discuss the best way to press those cases home expediently?

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

T5. One of my constituents served His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for 43 years, yet more than five months on from taking partial retirement she is still waiting for her pension and lump sum. My office has attended two casework surgeries with Capita and the Cabinet Office, neither of which has secured a resolution. My constituent is now paying additional mortgage interest because of the delays. Will the Minister meet me urgently to resolve this case, secure a payment date and ensure that my constituent is compensated for the financial losses incurred?

[Sally Jameson]

I am sorry to hear of the experience that the right hon. Member’s constituent has had with Capita. As I have said, its performance has been abysmal, and we will hold it to account every single day until service levels are brought back to a good standard. I would be happy to meet her to discuss the case, and I will personally ensure that it is escalated.

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[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. Before the Minister responds, that is the first “you” of the day and hopefully the last.

[Sally Jameson]

I hope to be able to update the House shortly after recess with further steps that the Government are taking. As I have said, we have a Capita-funded remedial adviser in place who is identifying the delivery issues, and we have also deployed auditors to Capita to get a full understanding of the exact state of the service. We will continue to look at withholding contractual payments and, as I have said, this Government are committed to the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. While we inherited this contract from the previous Government, we will ensure that going forward looking at in-house schemes is a priority.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Brexit has created a web of red tape preventing businesses in Wokingham from developing relationships with European partners. Will the Government start negotiations for a growth and defence partnership with the EU to boost trade and growth?

--- Later in debate ---

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I am sorry to return to Capita, but I may have a solution. My constituent John is retiring partly due to ill health and his salary is now at half level—he is really struggling. He explained to me that under the current system a retirement date must be selected four months in advance, and if the delay goes one day past that, rather than amending the figures, the system has to start all over again. My suggestion is that we make a slight tweak so that we save Capita a lot of work and our residents a lot of heartache. Will the Minister comment on that and pick up my constituent’s case?

[Sally Jameson]

I thank the hon. Member for bringing that idea to this House. I will be happy to put that to Capita when I next meet it, and if she wants to write to me with her case, I will happily ensure that it is escalated.

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

The next national adaptation programme, NAP4, is not due until 2028, but the wildfires and droughts we saw this summer and the impending extreme El Niño show that we cannot wait that long. Will the Minister commit to taking urgent action to tackle resilience before then and give our farmers, communities and householders the support they need to face the challenges of drought, wildfire and flood risk?