Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department have (a) office-based, (b) hybrid and (c) remote-working contracts.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office remains committed to flexible working and the business benefits that it offers. We expect that most of our staff will be able to work both from home and in the workplace as part of an informal, non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. This is agreed and arranged with staff members individually.
The department does have a small number of homeworking contracts where this is appropriate- as at 31 Dec 2025 we had 126.1 FTE homeworkers out of 5211.0 FTE total, giving a proportion of 2.4%.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his speech of 20 January 2026, entitled Move fast. Fix things, what role Permanent Secretaries will retain in agreeing, moderating and approving KPIs set for Senior Civil Servants.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Permanent Secretaries are responsible for delivering on and cascading their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as set by Ministers, to their direct reports and subsequently the rest of the SCS cadre.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will answer Questions 111166 and 111167 on the administration of the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A response has been issued here 111166 and 111167
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to establish who is responsible for the delays in payments of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and ensure they are held accountable.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.
The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March
Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made for when the backlog of the Civil Service Pension payments will be resolved.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.
The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March
Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether officials in his Department had discussions with MOD officials on the suitability of Capita to run government contracts prior to the award of the Civil Service pensions contract.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The then Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin MP, had overall responsibility for Civil Service workforce matters at the time and confirmed that the Cabinet Office should proceed to award the contract to Capita. This was further subject to the Cabinet Office’s controls process for which the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart MP, had oversight.
The contract awarded in November 2023 followed a standardised rigorous procurement process with an open and transparent evaluation process, centred on the core criteria of quality, cost, and social value.
The Cabinet Office did not approach any other government department as part of the procurement exercise, past performance is covered in the selection stage of the procurement and, as no concerns were raised at this stage, Capita progressed through to the next stage.
While Capita is not currently covering the costs associated with the deployment of the surge team, they remain responsible for any additional expenses incurred, such as the use of contractors. Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.
The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who will pay the costs of resolving issues related to the administration of the Civil Service Pension scheme by Capita.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The then Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin MP, had overall responsibility for Civil Service workforce matters at the time and confirmed that the Cabinet Office should proceed to award the contract to Capita. This was further subject to the Cabinet Office’s controls process for which the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart MP, had oversight.
The contract awarded in November 2023 followed a standardised rigorous procurement process with an open and transparent evaluation process, centred on the core criteria of quality, cost, and social value.
The Cabinet Office did not approach any other government department as part of the procurement exercise, past performance is covered in the selection stage of the procurement and, as no concerns were raised at this stage, Capita progressed through to the next stage.
While Capita is not currently covering the costs associated with the deployment of the surge team, they remain responsible for any additional expenses incurred, such as the use of contractors. Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.
The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the respective responsibilities of MyCSP and Capita are for administrative failures in the civil service pension scheme; and what steps he is taking to hold them to account.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
In prioritising the most urgent cases, Capita has committed to all outstanding death-in-service and ill-health retirement cases to be either in payment, or have
undertaken all activity possible whilst waiting for the member to respond, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension. We are putting in place interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to recent retirees facing payment delays. These loans are to be repaid and will be met from existing departmental settlements.
Additionally, interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members.
Furthermore, all member complaints regarding the transition are being handled in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to provide compensation for civil servants impacted by administrative failures in the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
In prioritising the most urgent cases, Capita has committed to all outstanding death-in-service and ill-health retirement cases to be either in payment, or have
undertaken all activity possible whilst waiting for the member to respond, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension. We are putting in place interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to recent retirees facing payment delays. These loans are to be repaid and will be met from existing departmental settlements.
Additionally, interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members.
Furthermore, all member complaints regarding the transition are being handled in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any formal performance concerns were recorded in relation to Sir Chris Wormald as Cabinet Secretary.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Prime Minister and Sir Chris Wormald agreed that Sir Chris would stand down as the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service by mutual agreement.