A fact-checking charity has defended a former Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary following a slew of social-media posts criticising his pension pot in light of recent pension reforms.
Full Fact said it had seen “a number” of Facebook posts making claims about Sir Robert Devereux, who was perm sec at DWP from 2011 to 2018.
It pointed to an image that has been shared widely with the words “The civil servant responsible for increasing the state pension age to 67 is retiring at age 61 with a £1.8m pension pot.” The post also says Devereux will “receive £85,000 a year and a lump sum of £245,000”.
The Facebook post in question now comes with a note alerting readers to the missing information
The charity rated the claim as “needs context”. Fact checkers can choose from six rating options, which also include “false”, “partly false”, “true”, “satire” and “altered” – referring to media that has been edited in ways that could mislead people.
“These posts appear very similar to ones we’ve seen and written about in both 2019 and 2024, and are missing some context,” the charity said in an article yesterday.
It said that while a perm sec is the most senior civil servant in a department, “crucially, permanent secretaries (and other civil servants) do not themselves make policy decisions, such as whether to raise the state pension age”.
“They help the government of the day develop and implement policy, but it is ministers who decide which policies to introduce.”
It noted that the numbers appeared to be “broadly correct” as they matched figures published in DWP’s 2016-17 annual report and accounts – but that Devereux had retired more than seven years ago, in January 2018.
And it said DWP’s 2017-18 annual report and accounts included no figures for Devereux’s accrued pension. The report said that Sir Robert “opted out of PCSPS [the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme] from 31 March 2012” and “as such there is no requirement to disclose his pension values”.
“Sir Robert retired from the civil service during that financial year, in January 2018, on his 61st birthday. People aged over 55 who opt out of their pension schemes are entitled to access money that was invested in it,” Full Fact said.
Posts on Facebook sharing the image now have a warning underneath that says it has been "reviewed by third-party fact checkers", which links to Full Fact's article.
This is the third time Full Fact has investigated the claims – having published articles about posts with similar wording in 2019 and 2024.
In its 2019 article, the charity pointed out that the civil service “must serve the government of the day”.
It pointed to the civil service code, which says civil servants must “serve the government, whatever its political persuasion, to the best of your ability in a way which maintains political impartiality and is in line with the requirements of this code, no matter what your own political beliefs are”.
Its 2024 article added: “False or misleading claims online have the potential to harm individuals, groups and democratic processes and institutions. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct.”
After leaving government, Devereux became president of global public sector strategy for the cloud computing giant Salesforce.
He was recently appointed to lead an independent review of the Office for National Statistics' performance and culture.