The government will force Capita to fix the civil service pension scheme (CSPS) before any final decision can be made on insourcing the scheme, says minister.
In a Westminster Hall debate the CSPS debacle was referred to as a “national scandal” by MPs.
Responding to questions and troubling stories from MPs, recounting the suffering of constituents, former civil servants or their spouse, struggling financially, Sally Jameson MP, parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office, said: “[Capita] does not just walk away from this.”
Jameson was repeatedly asked about government plans to insource the scheme, already revealed in an earlier statement, although without a timeline.
Unprepared
The CSPS contract transferred from MyCSP to Capita in December 2025, after being awarded in 2023. Despite two years for Capita to get ready for it, in the month following its takeover amid delays and problems, an HMRC troubleshooter was brought in to lead an “urgent recovery plan”.
Disaster after disaster has now prompted the government to make the decision to bring the service in-house, but no timeline has been given. What is now clear is the government won’t let Capta flee without fixing a scheme they will inevitably lose.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson recently told Computer Weekly that the government is “actively shaping a long-term strategy to bring this pension scheme back in-house”, a statement repeated by Jameson. But there is still uncertainty among members of the scheme, the trade union and MPs about what this means.
In the debate Jameson declared he support for the government’s plan for the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation, but made clear that Capita cannot just walk away leaving a mess. “I want Capita to pay for their mistakes, not the taxpayers to pay for their mistakes. They don’t get to just walk away and do nothing about it,” she told MPs. “They need to pay for this, they need to get everyone their pensions and then we’ll look at what needs to be done in terms of the viability of the scheme long term.”
Since it took over the contract from previous supplier MyCSP in December, Capita has failed to meet its delivery promises and left claimants in severe financial difficulties. The company has admitted it is set to lose money on the contract, with pressure is mounting on Capita, which is heavily reliant on public sector business, due to the government’s current insourcing plans combined with its much-publicised failures.
Jameson added: “…we stood on a manifesto as a Labour government to have the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. I am personally committed to that.”
“I’ve said in this house before that I think that’s a priority for this [CSPS] scheme, but we can only do it when we make sure that it’s in the interest of the members,” she added. “We’ve got to make sure that there is no disruption, we’ve got to do it in the smoothest and quickest way…”
The Westminister Hall debate was secured by Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby . Opening the debate he described the botched scheme as “the failure of outsourcing laid bare.” He called for details on the recovery, compensation for those affected and accountability for those responsible.
About 30 MPs spoke during the debate.
