Conference votes to demand a public inquiry into the Capita pensions crisis

The first motions to be debated at this year’s PCS annual delegate conference were motions A1 and A342 on pensions.

Motion A1 called for a public enquiry into the Civil Service Pension Scheme outsourcing process and to campaign for a strengthened statutory and contractual framework for all critical payment and pension services. Motion A342, which was debated together, instructed the NEC to urgently seek a meeting with the minister for the Cabinet Office to demand in-sourcing of the work.

Moving motion A1, John from R&C Merseyside branch talked about the submission made by Capita before they took over administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, when they claimed they had all the resources to deliver what was necessary. He said “Clearly that was wrong. This is one of the reasons why we are demanding a public enquiry into this complete farce. We need to look at the reasons that caused this, both in terms of failing Capita but the failing government as well.”

Seconding motion A1 for the national executive committee, Angela Grant read out some of the shocking statistics surrounding Capita’s backlog, unpaid pensions, unopened emails and delays in quotes. She explained what PCS has achieved so far through our campaigning on the issue. She told conference that the minister has told Capita that there must be “full contractual compliance by the end of June 2026” but said that following PCS’s last meeting with the Cabinet Office “we can confidently say that we have little faith in the deadline being met by Capita. We are writing to the Paymaster General calling on him to take the same steps as he took with the Royal Mail and to cancel the Civil Service Pensions contract.” She also pointed out that Capita has also been awarded the contract for payroll in DWP and other departments “and we wait for that debacle”.

Moving motion A342 for DWP West Hampshire branch, Reece said “Privatisation of our pensions has been a disaster, and that’s what happens when you put profit as the motive in delivering any service.” He said: “The government should take the contract back from Capita, the precedent is there.”

Speaking in support for DWP Greater Manchester branch, Mohammed paid tribute to three members of his branch, one of whom committed suicide, one died while waiting for their pension to be paid and the other is feeling suicidal because of the delays. He said: “Behind every statistic there is a real story of people struggling to make ends meet.” He thanked the NEC for its work in ensuring the loan scheme was brought in for members who hadn’t received pension payments.

Both motions, supported by a wide range of speakers, were passed unanimously.

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