The civil service\u2019s biggest union is calling on its members to lobby their MP in a bid to get administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme brought back \u201cin house\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PCS has launched an \u201ce-action campaign\u201d to support the drive, which allows members to contact their MP via an online form. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The union describes the scheme as \u201cin crisis\u201d and says the system is\u00a0\u201cfailing the very people it was designed to support\u201d,\u00a0 based on the findings of a recent National Audit Office report.<\/p>\n
The Civil Service Pension Scheme has 1.7 million members. It is currently administered by MyCSP, which was spun out of the Cabinet Office in 2014. Under a new contract agreed in November 2023<\/a>, outsourcer Capita is due to take over administration of the scheme from the start of December this year. \u00a0<\/p>\n In June this year, the NAO flagged significant service issues<\/a> related to MyCSP\u2019s operation of the pension scheme. The following month, Cabinet Office perm sec Cat Little told MPs she believed Capita had likely \u201cunderestimated some of the complexity of the transition<\/a>\u201d, and that the technology had taken longer than expected to implement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Cabinet office is due to take a \u201cgo\/no-go\u201d decision on the switch of administration to Capita later this month \u2013 based on the firm\u2019s readiness for a smooth transition from 1 December. \u00a0<\/p>\n Little told members of the Public Accounts Committee that there would be a range of contingency options, with the \u201cworst case scenario\u201d being that the Civil Service Pension Scheme remained under MyCSP\u2019s administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, PCS called on the Cabinet Office to halt the outsourcing of the Civil Service Pension Scheme<\/a> and use civil servants to administer it. \u00a0<\/p>\n In a letter to Little, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said the union was firmly of the view that the very integrity of the administration of the CSPS is now at risk\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n She added: \u201cObviously, we recognise that given where we are, developing an in-house IT platform is not a practical option; but what very clearly is an option is to bring the current physical administration of the work in-house. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUnder these circumstances the scheme management regains direct control of the workforce administering the scheme; including the level of training and resource deployed in that administration \u2013 something that has clearly been consistently lacking, under the current contract.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n PCS\u2019s latest campaign encourages members to make similar points to their MPs.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is seeking “stronger” Cabinet Office oversight for the Civil Service Pension Scheme, a halt to the \u201cprivatisation of pension administration\u201d, and a \u201cclear plan\u201d to complete pensions remediation work related to the McCloud judgment. \u00a0<\/p>\n The judgment, which effectively declared 2015\u2019s public-sector pension reforms<\/a> illegal on the grounds of discrimination, has meant some Civil Service Pension Scheme members have the right to choose between two sets of pension entitlements for all or part of their service.\u00a0<\/p>\n PCS is also calling for respect for union recognition during the Civil Service Pension Scheme\u2019s transfer to Capita.\u00a0<\/p>\n