RE: Pensions7 Feb 2026 06:57
Outsourcing giant Capita took over running the entire civil service pension scheme in December 2025. It had previously run the pensions for the MoD Fire and Rescue Service whose staff are Unite members. Unite had previously issued stark warnings directly to the Cabinet Office about Capita's incompetence and highlighted its poor performance, but had reassurances that this contract was different to Capita's other contracts.
But Unite is aware of a significant and serious number of recent and ongoing issues with Capita's running of the fire and rescue service scheme. These include:
A member missing £2,000 from their annual pension and £6,000 from their lump sum due to miscalculations of rest day credits
A member having their pension reduced by £500 due to errors in amalgamating two civil service pensions - classic and alpha
A member who has been receiving a lower pension than he should have been for nearly a year despite Capita acknowledging its miscalculation due to periods of temporary promotion
Two members whose pension offer did not include the effective pension age reduction for firefighters resulting in a significantly reduced lump sum payment
A member who is losing £2,000 per year as Capita has been unable to add service with HM Coastguard and MoD Guard Service to his MoD pension.
Since 2019, firefighters' pensions have been incorrectly calculated and, in some cases, firefighter members have been retiring or sadly dying in service and Capita has no record of their pensions or next of kin beneficiaries.
In many cases this has taken over six months to resolve and the member (or their next of kin) have been without pension income for this period. Without direct interventions by Unite, these members would have been without their pension for the entire time.
Sign In
Follow the stocks
