Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 1 July 2026 on the Civil Service Pension Scheme, whether Capita met its commitment to restore administration of the scheme to contractual levels by the end of June 2026; and what the current backlog is for (a) pension quotations, (b) pension payments, (c) bereavement cases, (d) ill-health retirement cases and (e) cases involving financial hardship.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government.
The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.
While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.
To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser is being appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.
Looking forward, the Government has already announced their new public interest test to end outsourcing of public services by default. From April 2027, all contracts over £1 million must be assessed for in-house viability before renewal. Departments exceeding £100 million in annual spend must also develop five-year insourcing strategies. This framework builds the exact long-term capability that we need, shifting our focus from short-term pricing to service quality and operational resilience.
The Cabinet Office is unable to provide a specific breakdown of the number of Civil Service Pension Scheme members who are awaiting payment beyond the expected timescale, as members retire at different times, including early, late, or partial retirement. Around 6,700 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 30 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 429, of which 60 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 618, of which 400 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 19,362 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £16.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,932 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
Existing civil servants who have partially retired or a civil servant who retired from 1 January 2025, can contact their employer to access the transitional support loan. The provision of these loans will continue while delays persist.
Pension scheme members not in scope of this loan scheme but who are at risk of experiencing financial hardship due to the delayed payment of their pension, should contact Capita and highlight the financial impact of these delays. Capita will then prioritise resolution of these cases.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis, to determine whether any compensation is due, and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 1 July 2026 on the Civil Service Pension Scheme, what commercial levers his Department is considering in response to Capita’s performance; and whether those levers include financial penalties, withholding payments, contract variation, termination or bringing administration of the scheme back in-house.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government.
The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.
While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.
To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser is being appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.
Looking forward, the Government has already announced their new public interest test to end outsourcing of public services by default. From April 2027, all contracts over £1 million must be assessed for in-house viability before renewal. Departments exceeding £100 million in annual spend must also develop five-year insourcing strategies. This framework builds the exact long-term capability that we need, shifting our focus from short-term pricing to service quality and operational resilience.
The Cabinet Office is unable to provide a specific breakdown of the number of Civil Service Pension Scheme members who are awaiting payment beyond the expected timescale, as members retire at different times, including early, late, or partial retirement. Around 6,700 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 30 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 429, of which 60 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 618, of which 400 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 19,362 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £16.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,932 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
Existing civil servants who have partially retired or a civil servant who retired from 1 January 2025, can contact their employer to access the transitional support loan. The provision of these loans will continue while delays persist.
Pension scheme members not in scope of this loan scheme but who are at risk of experiencing financial hardship due to the delayed payment of their pension, should contact Capita and highlight the financial impact of these delays. Capita will then prioritise resolution of these cases.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis, to determine whether any compensation is due, and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he will establish a compensation scheme for Civil Service Pension Scheme members and beneficiaries affected by delayed pension payments, bereavement delays, ill-health retirement delays or financial hardship; and whether his Department is reviewing the case for bringing administration of the scheme back into the Civil Service.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government.
The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.
While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.
To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser is being appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.
Looking forward, the Government has already announced their new public interest test to end outsourcing of public services by default. From April 2027, all contracts over £1 million must be assessed for in-house viability before renewal. Departments exceeding £100 million in annual spend must also develop five-year insourcing strategies. This framework builds the exact long-term capability that we need, shifting our focus from short-term pricing to service quality and operational resilience.
The Cabinet Office is unable to provide a specific breakdown of the number of Civil Service Pension Scheme members who are awaiting payment beyond the expected timescale, as members retire at different times, including early, late, or partial retirement. Around 6,700 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 30 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 429, of which 60 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 618, of which 400 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 19,362 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £16.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,932 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
Existing civil servants who have partially retired or a civil servant who retired from 1 January 2025, can contact their employer to access the transitional support loan. The provision of these loans will continue while delays persist.
Pension scheme members not in scope of this loan scheme but who are at risk of experiencing financial hardship due to the delayed payment of their pension, should contact Capita and highlight the financial impact of these delays. Capita will then prioritise resolution of these cases.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis, to determine whether any compensation is due, and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much from the public purse has been spent on legal representation in public inquests and inquiries in each year between 2020 and July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
For statutory inquiries, section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives the Chair the power to award funding for legal representation subject to conditions imposed by the Sponsoring Minister. Details of these costs and of the cost of an inquiry’s legal support are available on individual inquiry websites. The Cabinet Office does not keep centralised records of expenditure on legal representation in public inquiries and inquests.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Government set out clear priorities for the reset with the EU in the manifesto. There are no plans for a Youth Mobility Scheme.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to require for MPs and Peers to declare (a) membership of the boards of energy and utility companies and (b) dividends received from energy and utility companies.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Existing disclosure rules pertain but this is a matter determined by each House of Parliament, not Government.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are fully represented in the Government's UK covid-19 public inquiry.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Inquiry is specifically required to consider any disparities evident in the impact of the pandemic on different categories of people. This includes, but is not limited to, those relating to protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and equality categories under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Under the Inquiries Act 2005, decisions regarding the conduct of the Inquiry are for the Independent Chair.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will release (a) provisional figures for excess winter mortality in England and Wales for 2022 to 2022 and (b) final figures for excess winter mortality in England and Wales for 2020 to 2021.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 7 December is attached.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any cross-departmental (a) meetings and (b) other discussions on the UK's preparedness for cold weather during winter 2022-23 have taken place in the last six months.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As the coordinating department for severe weather events, the Cabinet Office undertakes a well-established programme of seasonal weather preparedness with departments and relevant agencies.
Preparation for Winter 2022-23 began in August with the revision of the relevant centrally-held cross-government severe weather response protocol, iterated in light of lessons learned from previous events (e.g. Storm Eunice) and other relevant developments (e.g. the formation of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)). The classified central protocol is co-owned by the Cabinet Office, the Met Office and UKHSA and aligns with the publicly available Cold Weather Plan for England (2022-23), published annually since 2011.
The relevant protocols are exercised every year and disseminated within the response community to ensure coordinated preparedness for winter weather risks and a coherent response should severe weather materialise.
The Cabinet Office remains in regular contact with UKHSA and the Met Office on possible deteriorating weather forecasts and to understand concurrent risks that may require adjustment of thresholds for a centrally-led government response.
UKHSA Cold Health Alerts and the Met Office National Severe Weather Warnings are issued for low temperatures and wintry hazards (respectively) - as is currently the case - sitting alongside targeted public communications outlined in the central protocol.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the basic annual cost of living for a family comprised of one adult and one child.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 31 March is attached.