Synergy Contract
In February 2026, Capita was named as the preferred bidder for the Synergy contract, which handles payroll and some other HR functions for more than 250,000 civil servants in the DWP, Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
The £700 million contract sits within the government’s “Synergy” shared services cluster, part of a strategy to collapse 286 legacy systems into five major platforms through a single cloud-based system to cover HR, payroll, finance and procurement.
PCS warned that giving the contract to Capita is a serious and unnecessary risk to the livelihoods of civil servants who depend on accurate, timely pay. We set up an e-action for members to email their MPs asking them to intervence.
PCS General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, wrote to the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden MP to request an urgent meeting, saying "It is nothing short of astounding to us, that a company with such an appalling track record, should be trusted with the vital payroll and HR functions for what amounts to almost half of the total number of staff working in the civil service.”
And chair of the PCS Parliamentary Group, John McDonnell, wrote to the secretary of state about the decision.
On 17 March, Fran Heathcote and PCS President Martin Cavanagh attended an emergency roundtable in Westminster to brief MPs on Capita, discussing the ongoing pensions crisis, as well as the payroll contract.
In April, PCS supported a Trade Union Coordinating Group rally in Westminster alongside RMT, Equity, UCU, Napo, POA and BFAWU unions. The rally focused on the ongoing issues with Capita, and the failure of Labour to deliver the ‘biggest wave of insourcing’ following its election promise in 2024.