GMB Union has criticised ‘incompetent’ Capita scooping a £700 million contract to run payroll for the civil service.
The outsourcing giant suffered a data breach in 2023 in which the personal and financial records of 6.6 million people in the UK were exfiltrated, leading to the company being hit with a £14 million fine.
Then in 2025 Capita was awarded a contract to manage the Civil Service Pension Scheme, leading to backlog of 120,000 cases and thousands of retiring workers yet to receive the pension they expected.
The Cabinet Office has been forced to put an emergency team in place to help Capita address their failings.
Kevin Brandstatter, GMB National Officer, said:
“Capita has a proven track record for incompetence.
“Aside from the horrendous data breach, the administration of the civil service pension has been an unmitigated disaster, with GMB and the Government left to pick up the pieces.
“It’s beyond belief they have now been rewarded with yet another juicy public sector contract.
“The Government ignored GMB’s warnings last time – they must heed them now.
“These essential services should not be outsourced to private companies.”
