The PCS and Prospect unions have delivered a petition to No.10 calling for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme to be brought back in-house.
The petition was launched by Prospect and PCS in June, when the crisis since Capita took over administration of the scheme hit the six-month mark. It has been signed by more than 15,000 people.
In the most recent Cabinet Office update on the recovery of the scheme, the department's pensions director Richard Vianello said more civil servants are being brought in to help fix complex, longstanding cases. Capita missed its target to return the administration of the scheme to contracted service levels at the end of June, with ministers responding by setting out an enforcement plan and indicating an intention to bring the service back in-house in the future.
Prospect deputy general secretary Steve Thomas said: “There is ample evidence that contracting out the running of this scheme has been a disaster.
“The problems did not start when Capita took over last December with thousands of retired civil servants facing financial hardship due to delayed pension payments under the previous administrator. The problems have been compounded by inadequate action from Capita.
“The only long-term solution that will work for scheme members, and taxpayers, is to end this debacle by bringing the contract in-house at the first suitable opportunity.”
Thomas also raised Prospect’s concern that no minister has formally been given responsibility for this scheme since the prime minister took office over a month ago.
“The prime minister must act immediately to confirm this minister so we can work with them to hold Capita to account,” Thomas said.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "This petition is a powerful demonstration of the strength of feeling among civil servants and pensioners who have been badly let down by the outsourcing of their pensions administration.
"Behind every delayed payment is a real person facing uncertainty, hardship and, in some cases, serious financial distress. It is completely unacceptable that people who have served the public for decades should be left waiting for money they are entitled to."
Heathcote said the government "must now listen to the more than 15,000 people who have signed this petition and bring civil service pension administration back in-house".
"The government cannot claim to support a new era of insourcing while continuing to hand major public contracts to companies with such a poor record of service delivery," she added. "It is time to put public services and the people who rely on them before private profit."
The petition demands are:
- Bring civil service pension administration back in-house.
- Establish a compensation scheme all who are affected by pension administration failures.
- Clear the existing backlog as a matter of urgency, prioritising ill-health retirees, bereaved families, and those facing financial hardship.
- Suspend any further contract awards involving Capita until a full review of the procurement process and the company's service delivery performance has been completed.
- Honour the government's commitment to deliver the greatest wave of insourcing in a generation.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "The service levels following the move to Capita have been completely unacceptable. Our immediate priority is to stabilise the service to give current and former civil servants the service they deserve.
"While robust commercial levers will continue to be applied in the short term, the government intends to move forward the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation and is actively shaping a long-term strategy to bring this pension scheme back in-house."