Sally Clementson was a civil servant who had paid into her pension throughout her working life. She died in January last year. Her husband, Mark, waited months following the bereavement claim without hearing anything about the widower’s pension. During that time he was anxious, and suffered distress and serious financial hardship while grieving for his wife. Mark himself died in November, having never received a penny of the pension that his wife had earned. To this day, his family have received no pension payments to help cover the funeral costs or mounting bills. The latest response they received from Capita states that that is due to the backlog.
Debbie Bowen died in 2024. Her sister, Joanne Wilson, has spent over a year chasing Debbie’s pension. Solicitors were promised escalation and contact within 12 weeks, but no contact came. Repeated calls throughout December and January led to the same assurances, but still no resolution. Joanne has described feeling utterly frustrated and worn down by it all.
Collette Reeves retired at the end of last year to care for her husband who had been diagnosed with dementia. She is now struggling to pay her bills because of delays, and despite repeated attempts to get answers has not got access to pension nor support from the interim emergency fund.
These stories – shared by MPs on Wednesday – are just a few examples of the hardship being suffered by current and former civil servants amidst a crisis with the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Two months from the transfer of the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita, the pressure is growing on the government to turn the situation around. Last week, the Cabinet Office and Capita set out a plan to tackle the backlog and provide immediate assistance to pensioners who have not received pension payments. In a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, MPs shared how the crisis is affecting their constituents, and sought answers and further action.
Their demands included increased resourcing to tackle the growing backlog, a bespoke compensation scheme, a pause on voluntary exit schemes, and for ministers to consider bringing the contract back in-house.
Leading the debate, Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, Lorraine Beavers, said: “Since the transfer, the scheme has struggled to work properly. There have been late pension payments, missing lump sums, lost records, broken systems and long delays in answering calls.
“Some retirees have had to borrow money just to pay bills because their expected pension payments or lump sums have not arrived, and no clear timescale has been given for when they will.
“Thousands of people are now stuck waiting. The result is stress, uncertainty and real financial hardship.”
Beavers said the PCS union has heard from former civil servants 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, while some widows or widowers have waited months for their late partner’s pension.
Up to 8,500 people may have retired without receiving their pension, according to the Cabinet Office.
“This is a human crisis,” Beavers said. “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.”
Beavers said the crisis is “not a one-off mistake” but “part of a longer pattern”, noting that the Public Accounts Committee found successive governments have failed for years to manage the outsourced contract properly.
“The move to Capita was meant to modernise the system and improve services,” she said. “Instead, it has exposed poor planning and weak control.”
Several MPs expressed similar sentiments. “These are not isolated cases, which points to systemic problems with how this scheme is administered,” Labour and Co-operative MP Emma Foody said.
Another MP, the Liberal Democrats’ David Chadwick, said he has a constituent who left the civil service in 1992 “and more than 30 years later, has still not received the pension that she is owed, despite providing proof of service from HMRC and making repeated transfer requests. Despite the fact that the civil service later located her superannuation file, the scheme continued to insist that no record existed.”
Chadwick said: “Such cases show that the failure is not just delay but deep-rooted maladministration within our state.”
Labour MP Anneliese Midgley, who has heard from constituents afraid of losing their homes because they cannot pay their mortgages, their credit card bills, or their electricity and gas bills due to civil service pensions delays, warned that "it is not the first time that something like this has happened".
"I can foresee an ITV series starring Toby Jones in a few years’ time," she said, referring to the Mr Bates vs The Post Office drama series which ignited public interest in the Horizon Post Office scandal.
"I thank the government for the sticking plaster in the form of loans for those who need them most, but the taxpayer is once again stepping in because of failure, incompetence and maladministration."
‘Everything is on the table,’ says minister – as MPs urge insourcing
Beavers said the “seriousness” of the crisis “has been accepted at the highest level”. But she was among many MPs who called for the government to go further and bring the contract back in-house.
She said: "It is welcome that the Cabinet Office has now brought in about 150 civil servants, mainly from HMRC, to help fix the problem, but it raises a simple question: if so many civil servants are needed, why is the work not being done inside the civil service?
“Before the general election, my party promised Britain the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. This farce has exposed just how important that promise was and remains. I urge the Labour government to make good on that promise.”
John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and former shadow chancellor, said: “Let us be absolutely clear: this is a failed privatisation. It came in during the obsession of the last government with privatisation during the early 2010s. At that time the union warned that there would be problems of this sort.
“My worry is that we might be here in two, three or four years’ time – whenever it is – because this privatisation has demonstrated that it cannot work. I do not want to be here again, pleading for people who have not had their pensions.”
McDonnell asked if there is a clause within the existing contract that allows for its termination if the administrator fails.
Responding to this question at the end of the debate, Anna Turley, a minister in the Cabinet Office, said: “There is an option to terminate in any contract of this kind. These are complex and commercial requirements, and terminating the contract and moving to another provider would mean another massive upheaval of data and everything else. I am sure colleagues share my view that the priority right now is to resolve people’s immediate concerns and issues, make sure people get their money and undertake a review of exactly what happened. However, everything is on the table.”
'He hasn't received a single penny' – A selection of the cases highlighted by MPs
Sarah Rees applied to receive her pension early due to ill health. That application was lost. She submitted it again in July and in November she was told that all the necessary paperwork had been received, but she didn't hear back until last week. Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies raised her case during a business statement, and says this seemed to catch Capita's attention as Sarah has finally received a response and a lump sum. But the sum was miscalculated, so she had to write to Capita again and has had no response.
Steve Dawkins retired this month after 24 years as a civil servant, following all the procedures, including submitting his formal notice of retirement, but he hasn't received a formal acknowledgement of his pension claim, nor indication of when his lump sum or monthly pension payments can be expected. His salary has stopped, and he's not eligible for his state pension until September. Davies said they sent a letter to Capita outlining Steve's case and received acknowledgement, but no action.
Chris Fryer retired a year ago and hasn't received a single penny after spending his entire career working for the Border Force as an officer. He has contacted them again and had no response.
Billy was considering taking partial retirement but now does not want to because he does not know if he is going to get his money. He is scared and denying himself time away from work and partial retirement.
Christine, 65, retired on 2 December and has not received her pension or a lump sum. Every time she contacts Capita, she's told she will receive it in 10 days, and yet it still hasn't arrived, leaving her without money for months, including over Christmas.
Christopher, 60, lives on his own with no savings and no other income and has now gone three months without a pension payment.
Diane's husband was diagnosed last year with a serious brain tumor. They are both civil servants and have been waiting months for a pension forecast so that they can plan their future.
Elaine has been waiting for a pension forecast since early December and cannot plan her retirement as she doesn't know if she can retire, when she can retire, or what income she will receive.
Jackie took early retirement to help care for her grandson and help her son and should have received a payment starting in August, but has received nothing.
Julie partly retired at the start of January after applying for her civil service pension back in August and has yet to be paid. She waited five hours on the phone to Capita and was told no timescale could be given. She and her family are worried about paying bills, growing debts, and whether her pension will be backdated.
Mark, who worked at HMRC, noticed that, according to the new website, his nominated beneficiary was his dad, who has been dead for many decades. Mark queried this and was told that it is actually his wife. The website has still not been updated.
Paul retired from the Ministry of Defence last July. He has not received any pension and is living off his savings with no clear answers.
Philippa retired in May and suffered a nervous collapse triggered by pension delay. She died on Boxing Day.
'We won't rest until the service is stabilised'
Addressing the concerns raised during the 90-minute session, Turley began by paying tribute "to all the fantastic public servants who give so much in service to our country and communities".
"When a civil servant retires after decades of public service, they deserve a seamless transition into the next chapter of their lives, and recognition of the contribution they have made over their career," she said. "They deserve a system that is accurate, responsive and, above all, timely. I state clearly for the record that the service experienced by members of the civil service pension scheme is absolutely unacceptable."
Turley noted that the contract with Capita was signed by the previous Conservative government in 2023 and said: "I could talk about another disastrous inheritance, but I will not. I will take responsibility and apologise because that is what today should be about: the people affected by this service.
"I am deeply sorry for the worry and distress this has caused so many people, particularly those dealing with bereavement, ill health and financial hardship. This is a failure: there are no two ways about it. Resolving it is a matter of utmost urgency for the government. We are taking direct action to intervene and put things right, doing so as quickly as possible while ensuring accuracy."
She pledged ministers would "not rest until the service is stabilised and our civil servants receive the support that they have earned after so many years of dedicated service".
Turley also gave assurances that every member of the scheme's pension "is safe and their data is secure" and the government is "committed to ensuring that every member is treated fairly and with respect, and that no one suffers a permanent financial loss due to these administrative failures".
On potential penalties, Turley said the contract with Capita "includes a number of key performance indicators, which colleagues have rightly raised, with financial penalties to be applied where they are not achieved".
"We reserve all commercial rights at present," she said. "We have already withheld millions of pounds of payments for failure to meet transitional milestones. We continue to contractually monitor service level key performance indicators linked to payments, and we have refused to waive service levels, ensuring that Capita remains contractually liable for performance."
She added: "We are holding Capita to account and are going to kick [their] backside, as the honorable member for Strangford [Jim Shannon] said. We are making sure that members are at the heart of the recovery plan, and we will use every commercial lever at our disposal to ensure that Capita delivers effectively."