Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the consultancy spend is by government department, compared with previous years.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Each government department publishes details of their consultancy expenditure within their individual Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the IOPC administers hardships loans for their retired employees who are currently waiting for their delayed Civil Service Pension to be processed by Capita.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We can confirm that, as of 5 October 2026, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) does offer a hardship loan scheme for recent retirees experiencing hardship due to Capita’s delays.
Eligibility for a hardship loan is restricted to active scheme members who have either retired or partially retired directly from a Civil Service employer since 1 January 2025 and face payment delays. Because these bridging funds are legally classified as employee-employer loans, they cannot be extended to deferred members, surviving spouses, or dependants due to the lack of an active employment link.
Deferred groups and vulnerable dependants are instead directed to Capita for urgent internal prioritisation via Cabinet Office Pensions Recovery Taskforce-monitored workflows. We are working tightly with internal teams to ensure that those who cannot access a loan have their core files fast-tracked through the system via our triage managers.
We have also established dedicated virtual surgeries for MPs and caseworkers to escalate urgent and exceptional cases directly with a Capita caseworker.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service will continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a Lasting Power of Attorney document can be used for the purposes of authorising an executor access to a deceased’s pensioner's Civil Service Pension portal.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A Lasting Power of Attorney is valid only during an individual’s lifetime. As it ceases upon death, it cannot be used to authorise access to a deceased member’s Civil Service Pension record.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme portal does not have a facility for third-party access to a member’s record. However, executors or personal representatives can obtain the information required to administer the estate directly from Civil Service Pensions. To do so, they must provide proof of identity and legal authority, such as a Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration, or a copy of the Will.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to erect a National Emergency Services Memorial.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
There are currently no plans to erect a National Emergency Services Memorial.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June to Question 4321 on Palantir: Software, whether the National Cyber Security Centre expert guidance on the awarding of software contracts to Palantir included (a) any objections on the basis of increased risk or (b) mitigations to reduce risk.
Answered by Chris Ward
The Government takes national security extremely seriously. It is long-standing policy that the Government does not disclose the specifics of its security arrangements, including in relation to individual suppliers or the detail of security advice provided in individual procurement processes.
Under the Procurement Act 2023, contracting authorities must undertake due diligence and may exclude suppliers on national security grounds where the relevant legal tests are met.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he will take to reduce waiting times for those seeking a remedial service statement via Capita for their Civil Service Pension.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Capita, having assumed responsibility for the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December 2025, is currently preparing a delivery plan for the remaining 2015 Remedy work.
The Cabinet Office expects the majority of the remaining Remediable Service Statements (RSS) will be issued by April 2027.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77413 on Teachers: Workplace Pensions, how many civil service pension accounts have unresolved cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) requests.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.
For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication to ensure members receive the support they deserve. While the immediate focus remains on stabilising the service through this intensive recovery plan, we are committed to ensuring all staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
As of 6 March 2026, there were 2,286 open case requests regarding Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) quotes and actions on civil service pension member accounts. This includes recent CETV applications, and as such, there will always be a number of outstanding CETV cases at any given time.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: (latest update 16 March): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-16-march-2026
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date he expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin inviting relatives of the deceased to submit their claims for compensation.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) as an operationally independent arm's-length body. Going forward, IBCA is aiming to contact an average of 100 people to begin their claim every week. At that rate, they expect to have brought in to claim all those infected people who are registered with a support scheme this calendar year. The Government expects IBCA to begin payments to people who are affected by the end of this year.
As of 17 June, IBCA has contacted 1,707 people to start their compensation claim, and 1,346 have started the claim process. 462 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £395 million, and so far 310 people have accepted their offers with more than £231 million paid in compensation.
In February, IBCA set out their plans to open the compensation service in stages to make sure it is effective and secure for all those claiming. IBCA have provided details of their plans on their website here: https://ibca.org.uk/news/payments-to-be-scaled-up-in-2025
A relative of a deceased infected person may be eligible for compensation on behalf of the estate of the deceased infected person; as an affected person in their own right; or as both.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34653 on Royal Mail: Workplace Pensions, whether any of the 906 tax free lump sum overpayments in 2024 related to retirement in previous years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Whilst all of the 906 overpayments happened in 2024, the impacted members retired across a number of years.
Of the 906 cases, 163 retired in 2024, 597 in 2023; 5 in 2022), 3 in 2021, 4 in 2020, 2 in 2019, and 8 in 2018. The remaining 124 cases retired before 2018.
The Cabinet Office has worked closely with the scheme administrator, to review all other processes in relation to the administration of the scheme, to ensure that they are documented and accurately reflect the contractual requirements and scheme rules, to deliver the best possible service to members and minimise errors.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34653 on Royal Mail: Workplace Pensions, how many of the 906 overpayments of tax free lump sums in 2024 have been resolved by (a) payment in full, (b) part payment as full settlement or (c) written off.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Out of the 906 miscalculated overpayments in 2024, in respect of the second bite overpayment (742 members) we can confirm that 248 overpayments have been recovered in full; 494 are in recovery by way of monthly deductions to their pension, and 4 members have yet to have their recovery method agreed, and there is ongoing correspondence to finalise this.
In addition, all 160 duplicate pension increase members are in recovery. Where members were unable to return the overpayment in full, monthly deductions from their pension were put in place. There were no part payments or payments written off.