Lorraine Beavers MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  This problem has a long history. Pensions administration used to be done in-house. In 2012, it was moved out as part of the wider push to outsource services. Over time, Government control was sold off and MyCSP came to an end in 2025. The new contract was awarded quietly, despite known pressures from rising retirements and major legal pension changes. Those decisions need to be looked at closely. PCS has called for Capita to focus first on hardship cases, including unpaid retirees, people about to retire, ill-health cases and bereavement. It has also called for proper compensation schemes to cover interest, extra costs and distress. Those are fair and reasonable demands. Capita and senior officials have apologised and promised recovery plans. Apologies matter but they are not enough. When people are left without income, through no fault of their own, action must follow. There must be clear responsibility, updates and deadlines. Hardship cases must come first and resources must match the size of the problem. People must be compensated for the harm caused. I have five questions for the Government. First, will the Minister ensure immediate financial support and fair compensation for all those affected? Secondly, will she publish a clear recovery plan with proper oversight? Thirdly, will she ensure that Capita pauses voluntary exit schemes, increases staffing capacity and dedicates every available resource to clearing this huge backlog for retirees? Fourthly, will she review how this contract was handled, including whether the service should return in-house? Fifthly, will the Minister restate a simple promise: pensions earned through public service must be paid on time and with respect? Before the general election, my party promised Britain the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. This farce has exposed just how important that promise was and remains. I urge the Labour Government to make good on that promise. Civil servants give their working lives to this country in good faith. When that trust is broken, it is not just unfair to individuals, it is a failure of Government that this House must address.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  I totally agree; this is not any way to treat our civil servants. Elaine has been waiting for a pension forecast since early December. She came to see me in January because she cannot plan her retirement at all. She does not know whether she can retire, when she can retire or what income she will have. Julie partly retired at the start of January after applying for her pension back in August. She has still not been paid. She waited five hours on the phone and was told that no timescale could be given. She and her family are worried about paying bills, growing debts and whether her pension will be backdated. Paul retired from the Ministry of Defence last July, but seven months later he has not received any pension and is living off his savings, with no clear answers. Alison retired and sent in her paperwork in September. She was told that it would be done by December, only to be told later that there was no record of her case and she should write to a PO box address. Paul retired after 30 years of service. His forms were sent in on time. He has received no lump sum, no pension and no timescale. Julie has worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for 26 years. She carefully planned partial retirement and sent her forms months in advance. Her retirement date is now close and yet she still has no pension forecast. Diane contacted my office about her husband, also a civil servant, who was diagnosed last year with a serious brain tumour. They have been waiting months for a pension forecast so that they can plan their future.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  It has been a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Ms Lewell. I thank all Members who attended the debate this morning. I called this debate because constituents of mine in Blackpool North and Fleetwood, and others across the country, suffered stress, uncertainty and serious financial difficulties because of Capita’s poor administration of the civil service pension scheme. This situation is not acceptable, and it is clearly a failure. Although I appreciate the Cabinet Office’s action of offering interest-free loans of up to £10,000 and bringing in additional civil servants to help fix the problem, this situation should never have been the case in the first place. It is essential that the process is accessible. Only yesterday, I heard that the DWP is asking applicants for personal financial information. No scheme member should have to go through that; it is not their fault that the scheme has not been managed properly. I am grateful to the Minister for her answers, and want to remind her again of the commitment that our party made before the election to begin the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. This situation should serve as a reminder of precisely why we made that promise. Civil servants like all of those who have written to me and visited my office in the past few months have worked immensely hard throughout their careers and delivered for our country on a daily basis. It is right that we now work urgently to remedy this situation for them by clearing the backlog and compensating those impacted in the short term, and by ensuring that this disgraceful failure never happens again in the long term. I hope that the debate has gone some way towards making clear the strength of feeling amongst our constituents and that it will ensure that they get the service that they deserve. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

• 2 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. The announcement to upgrade the radar systems of 40 Typhoons is welcome, but none of those Typhoons will be worked on by BAE at Warton, near my constituency. We cannot afford to leave our nation’s air defences in the hands of the USA, so will the Minister commit to an order of British-built Typhoons so that we can keep these vital skills in this country and ensure that the British military aircraft industry is not consigned—

• 22 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My constituent Katie Brett’s little sister was brutally murdered when she was 16 years of age. Katie is campaigning for Sasha’s law to give victims’ families longer to apply to the unduly lenient sentence scheme. It is a duty of a Labour Government to make sure that the rights of victims and their families always come first. As the Victims and Courts Bill progresses through the other place, will the Leader of the House help to ensure that the Government listen to those who, like Katie, are fighting for justice for their loved ones?

• 20 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. Settler violence and expansion in the occupied west bank is a daily threat to Palestinian communities. In the face of persistent violence, entire villages have been forcibly displaced. This is ethnic cleansing, enabled by the Israeli state. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that a ban on trade with Israeli settlements would show Israel that we are serious in opposing this disgraceful activity?