Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many backlog death in service cases remain unresolved by Capita following the Cabinet Office's Recovery Plan Sprint 3.

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 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 with affected colleagues, so that 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.

The highest priority cases for recovery, including death-in-service and ill-health retirements, have been returned to normal service levels, with cases concluded wherever it has been possible to do so.

Capita has processed 407 death-in-service cases, successfully reducing the volume of workable cases from 375 to 75 as of 23 March. Capita has now achieved its target of normalising work in progress to 60 cases, representing a return to steady-state operations. While the backlog has been addressed, this figure is expected to fluctuate slightly as cases currently with third parties are returned to Capita for finalisation.

The Cabinet Office remains committed to ensuring these cases are managed efficiently to provide timely support to beneficiaries.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration is given to disqualifying companies fined for non compliance for paying the national minimum wage when awarding Government contracts.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Non compliance with paying the national minimum wage is unacceptable and has no place in government contracts or in wider society.

The Procurement Act 2023 provides contracting authorities with strong powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where an exclusion ground applies, including where they have breached existing labour laws.

Where the circumstances that cause an exclusion ground to apply are continuing or likely to reoccur, contracting authorities must exclude suppliers subject to mandatory exclusion grounds.

Such grounds could include where a supplier is convicted of the offences of refusing or wilfully neglecting to pay the national minimum wage, or of failing to comply with a labour market enforcement order (which can relate to offences under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998). Where a discretionary exclusion ground applies, such as if a labour market enforcement order is made against the supplier, contracting authorities can choose whether to exclude them.

The Debarment Review Service can also carry out investigations in accordance with the Act to establish whether a supplier can be added to the debarment list.

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