PCS Merseyside ARMS

🚨PCS Press Release: PCS Responds to the Budget Announcement PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said: "The Chancellor talks about giving working people ‘breathing space’, but for our members, their pay has been squeezed for far too long. When your finances have been suffocated by years of rising costs and falling real-terms pay, breathing space simply isn’t enough, they need resuscitation. "Civil servants have continued to deliver the essential public services this country relies on while seeing the value of their wages eroded. A £100 household energy payment may provide some welcome short-term relief, but it cannot make up for years of pay erosion or address the underlying cost-of-living crisis. "The increase in the minimum wage is welcome, but it is shocking that so many of our members will have to rely on a statutory increase to see the littlest of improvement in their pay. What civil servants need is a significant, properly funded pay rise that begins to restore what they have lost. PCS is demanding an £18-an-hour minimum wage for civil servants, alongside a 10% pay remit properly funded by the Government. "When it comes to AI in the civil service, the Government’s plans need much closer scrutiny. This technology must improve services and make people's jobs better, not become a pretext for further cuts to the civil service workforce. Public services would never improve if that became the case. "We recognise the importance of properly funding our national security, but the Government must also recognise the vital role played by civilian defence workers. They are an essential part of our defence capability and must not be expected to pay for increased investment through job cuts, outsourcing or attacks on their pay and conditions. "Ultimately, if this Budget really is about working people, the test will be whether it delivers a meaningful improvement to their lives. Our members need decent pay, secure jobs and investment in the public services they deliver – measures that would make a tangible difference to their lives and the services the public relies on." #PCS #Budget #Budget2026

Tax the super rich, not working people Ahead of tomorrow's Budget, campaigners and Trade Unionists gathered in Parliament Square this morning with a clear message - it's time for the super rich to pay their fair share. PCS General Secretary joined the pre-Budget action organised by Tax Justice UK, calling for a fairer tax system that can help fund the public services we all rely on #PCS #Budget2026

#Capita Pensions Chaos - Latest from Parliament #CapitaCrisis #Pensions

🚨Breaking News! V&A Strike Suspended for Talks PCS members at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum have called off this week's strike action. PCS reps at the V&A have decided to suspend the planned 29 and 30 October strike to allow for ACAS-facilitated talks to take place, after the employer sent an improved offer. They made this decision in good faith to hold talks with the museum. Should these negotiations fail to produce a deal that is acceptable to our members, however, PCS will announce further strike action. PCS members at the V&A are determined to get the deal they deserve. And they continue to have a strong mandate for industrial action. PCS had already entered negotiations with the V&A over the provision of water bottles and adequate seating for front of house staff at V&A Storehouse. Now, the V&A has also made an improved offer on pay. PCS members are demanding a reasonable pay award and London Living Wage accreditation. They are also looking for heat mitigation measures, improved food offers at the East sites and a new industrial relations framework. You can support our members by using our e-action to email your MP: action.pcs.org.uk/page/20046… #PCS

PCS retired members’ chair Sandra Durkin spoke about the Capita pensions crisis for the Insource Now! campaign video today. She was brilliant, explaining the impact on members and why bringing services back in-house matters. She was joined by workers from UNISON and RMT to help make the case for insourcing. The giant cheque represents £6 billion in profits for outsourcing companies from government contracts. Public money that should support services, workers, and the people who rely on them. #InsourceNow

🚨PCS Press Release: Scottish Government digital workers to ballot over £5,000 pay cut Over 1,100 Scottish Government digital workers have lost £5,000 after the government changed the eligibility criteria for a longstanding payment, PCS has said. Around 800 union members working in the Digital profession will now be balloted for industrial action, with the ballot running from 21 October to 4 November. The dispute follows the Scottish Government’s decision to replace the existing Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) supplement with a new Government Digital and Data (GDD) supplement, with eligibility restricted to a smaller number of roles. There are around 1,560 staff working in the Scottish Government’s Digital profession. Under the new arrangements, around 71% which amounts to more than 1,100 workers will have lost the supplement. PCS says this represents a significant cut to the pay of highly skilled digital workers, with those affected losing £5,000 a year or up to 14% of their pay, depending on their grade. Furthermore, the removal of DDaT and introduction of GDD disproportionately affects women in the profession, deepening the longstanding problems of gender segregation in the IT profession. The supplement is not a new payment. A pay supplement for IT and digital roles has existed within the Scottish Government in one form or another since at least 1999, with eligibility consistently covering specialist and technical roles from A band through to C3. The current DDaT supplement was negotiated and implemented in 2018 with the support of PCS and sister unions. When it was reviewed in 2022, there were no changes to eligibility or ratings, although the payment was increased from £4,000 to £5,000 for the majority of staff receiving it. PCS says the approach taken by the Scottish Government in its 2025 review was markedly different from previous reviews. While the government carried out a detailed assessment of the digital workforce and the wider labour market, trade unions were not given seats on the review panel or directly involved in the detailed discussions about the proposals. That review ultimately recommended ending the DDaT supplement and replacing it with the new GDD supplement, with eligibility limited to selected roles and different rates of payment. Ruby Gibson, PCS National Officer for Scotland, said: "This is an attack on the pay of more than 1,100 digital workers, many of whom stand to lose £5,000 a year through no fault of their own. These are skilled professionals who play a vital role in delivering public services. "The supplement has been in place in one form or another for more than 25 years, recognising the specialist skills needed to do these jobs. The Scottish Government cannot simply strip workers of a significant part of their pay and expect them to accept it without a fight. "PCS is particularly concerned that this decision will disproportionately affect women, deepening existing inequalities in the digital profession. It is also unacceptable that trade unions were excluded from meaningful involvement in the detailed discussions that led to these changes. "Our members deserve fair pay, respect and a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their livelihoods. The ballot for industrial action is a direct consequence of the Scottish Government’s decision to press ahead with these cuts. We are calling on the government to urgently reconsider its approach." #PCS

🚨PCS Press Release: Capita leaves 93,000 civil service pension cases waiting as March 2027 deadline set to be missed Around 93,000 civil service pension cases are still waiting for legally required corrections, with PCS warning that Capita has yet to begin processing the outstanding McCloud cases. The Cabinet Office has now confirmed that the March 2027 deadline for completing the work will be missed, adding to the growing chaos following Capita’s takeover of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has already left thousands of retiring civil servants waiting months for their pension payments. The McCloud judgment found that changes to public service pension schemes had unlawfully discriminated against younger members. The government was subsequently required to provide a remedy, allowing affected members to have their pension benefits for the relevant period reviewed and corrected where necessary. Around 73,000 retired or deceased members and 20,000 deferred members remain affected. The work was originally due to be completed by March 2025, but the deadline was extended to 31st March 2027 (see notes section) . Capita was then due to begin the McCloud work when it took over the scheme in December 2025 working to that spring 2027 deadline, but PCS understands that it remains in the design stage which it entered in July but actually began working on this month leaving the outstanding cases yet to be processed. PCS is regularly contacted by retired members seeking information about when their pensions will be corrected. For some, the delay could mean waiting longer for significant sums in pension arrears and interest. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “I have spoken to many retired members, as well as working members who need to change contingent decisions made in 2025. They have been waiting far too long and have been badly let down. “These people are waiting for legally required corrections to their pensions, yet Capita has still not begun processing the outstanding cases. We cannot even give members reliable information about when their pensions will be corrected. Capita’s mess continues to pile up at the expense of members. I don’t know what more the Government needs to see before it finally says enough is enough.” See less

PCS general secretary, Fran Heathcote, was on Radio 4's Money Box Live this afternoon to discuss the latest in the ongoing Capita crisis.

More PCS members affected by the Capita pension crisis tell us why their scheme should be taken back in-house, to be serviced by civil servants. PCS continues to regularly meet with representatives of the Cabinet Office to address this crisis and pressure govt into fulfilling its promised biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/…