Pension privatisation leaves over 8,000 with no income

PCS members on the MyCSP picket line in November (Pic: PCSUnion on Facebook)

Keith worked at the Department for Environment for nearly 40 years and retired in December.

“But instead of ­enjoying my retirement, I’m here with no income at all trying to make my ­savings last,” he says.

Keith is one of over 8,000 retired civil servants who have fallen victim to the ­privatisation of civil service pensions.

They have been left ­without their monthly ­pension payments.

Up to 1.6 million former civil servants and public workers could be affected.

Labour has issued a £5,000 interest free loan to those who retired or accepted ­voluntary redundancy in the last 12 month. Keith said this is “totally inadequate” given the “scale of the crisis.”

Civil service pension ­provision, called MyCSP, was initially privatised in 2012. The PCS civil service ­workers’ union said “the level of service has been below an acceptable ­standard”, since. But, the current crisis is “unprecedented”.

In December of 2025 it was transferred from ­outsourcer Equiniti to Capita—from “one company with a failed record to another”, as Keith described it.

“The Labour Party ­promised when it was elected that there would be the ­biggest ­insourcing move in a generation,” he said.

“But it’s continuing with the privatisation agenda.” The media has been quick to blame PCS members at MyCSP who struck against Capita bosses last year and won union recognition.

But Keith said, “The ­workers have the right to trade union representation and recognition and to fight for decent conditions.”

There are just 200 ­workers dealing with a ­pensions ­backlog that’s estimated to be over 120,000 cases.

The government is set to send in 200 extra workers. “But the backlog is only ­increasing,” Keith said, with 3,000 civil service workers expected to retire in the next few months.

“This will take years to get through,” he said. “The ­government says it can be sorted by June, but that doesn’t seem likely.

“The government needs to bring it back in house immediately. That would be a win both for retired workers and the workforce at Capita.”