Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many outstanding applications were there for security clearances for individuals working at airports in England as of A.) August 2024 B.) August 2025 C.) August 2026.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I can advise that National Security Vetting (NSV) undertaken by His Majesty’s Government, remains separate from concurrent industry background checks. Successful and assured NSV is underpinned by appropriately considered and robustly applied recruitment due diligence.
I can confirm that Accreditation Checks (AC), which is a level of National Secuity Vetting primarily used by the aviation industry, are being processed in a timely manner with no current delays.
The Cabinet Office acts as a service provider for NSV clearances only. For national security reasons I am unable to share processing times for security clearances as release would likely prejudice national security and undermine the robust protective measures used to safeguard His Majesty’s Government.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate has she made of the average waiting time for a security vetting application to be completed for individuals working at airports in England.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In accordance with the long-standing policy of successive administrations, the Government does not disclose National Security Vetting (NSV) processing averages. Such a release would likely prejudice national security and undermine the robust protective measures used to safeguard His Majesty’s Government.
The level of NSV primarily used by the aviation industry is the Accreditation Check (AC). I can confirm that these checks are being processed in a timely manner with no current delays.
The Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, based on claims registered with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, how many claims made by living infected individuals with hepatitis (either mono infected or co infected) have been assessed as qualifying for a Financial Loss and Care Award at Level 3 or above.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes fortnightly statistics on their website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 19 May, there have been 18,934 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim, 2,680 registrations of which are from people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person (also known as estates claims).
A total of 4,402 people have been asked to start their claim, with 3,368 people having received an offer of compensation. Regarding PQs 2743, 2744, 2745 and 2746, IBCA does not publish breakdowns of the specific awards individuals have been offered or of the individual circumstances of claims.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of assessed claims by living infected individuals with hepatitis have been awarded a Financial Loss and Care Award at Level 3 or above in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes fortnightly statistics on their website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 19 May, there have been 18,934 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim, 2,680 registrations of which are from people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person (also known as estates claims).
A total of 4,402 people have been asked to start their claim, with 3,368 people having received an offer of compensation. Regarding PQs 2743, 2744, 2745 and 2746, IBCA does not publish breakdowns of the specific awards individuals have been offered or of the individual circumstances of claims.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the estates relating to individuals who died aged over 18 do not have an associated claim registered by a widow or child.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes fortnightly statistics on their website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 19 May, there have been 18,934 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim, 2,680 registrations of which are from people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person (also known as estates claims).
A total of 4,402 people have been asked to start their claim, with 3,368 people having received an offer of compensation. Regarding PQs 2743, 2744, 2745 and 2746, IBCA does not publish breakdowns of the specific awards individuals have been offered or of the individual circumstances of claims.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, of the estates that have registered claims with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, how many relate to individuals who died aged over 18.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes fortnightly statistics on their website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 19 May, there have been 18,934 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim, 2,680 registrations of which are from people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person (also known as estates claims).
A total of 4,402 people have been asked to start their claim, with 3,368 people having received an offer of compensation. Regarding PQs 2743, 2744, 2745 and 2746, IBCA does not publish breakdowns of the specific awards individuals have been offered or of the individual circumstances of claims.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many claims registered with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority have been registered by estates of people who died as a result of infected blood.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes fortnightly statistics on their website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 19 May, there have been 18,934 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim, 2,680 registrations of which are from people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person (also known as estates claims).
A total of 4,402 people have been asked to start their claim, with 3,368 people having received an offer of compensation. Regarding PQs 2743, 2744, 2745 and 2746, IBCA does not publish breakdowns of the specific awards individuals have been offered or of the individual circumstances of claims.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his department plans to answer the named day written questions, A.) UIN 109563, B.) UIN 109560 C.) UIN 109563 tabled in my name on the 29th January.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
A response has been issued here and here.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the evidence given by Paymaster General at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee session on 28 January 2026, whether there is any provision in the contract awarded to Capita to administer the civil service pension scheme to allow the recoup of costs from that company for (a) loans and (b) compensation paid to individuals impacted by the delays to that scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home 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.
Capita has made lump sum payments to 8,979 members, the majority of whom have retired but are not yet receiving their pension, and are on track to bring these members into regular pension payments by the end of April.
To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans typically up to £5,000 or £10,000 in exceptional cases to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members. The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
It should be noted that these loans are provided by the employer and not the Cabinet Office. There is no provision in the contract for cost recovery from Capita as the loan will be fully repaid directly by the member on receipt of their pension payment.
Interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members. In addition, the existing statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial losses, as well as distress and inconvenience caused, on a case-by-case basis to determine whether compensation is due. This ensures that any retiree who provides evidence of extra costs, such as bank penalties or interest charges caused by the delay, is fairly assessed. This process is run in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Whilst there is no contractual mechanism to specifically recover compensation costs under consideration, there are significant and robust contractual performance indicators built into the contract and these include financial penalties for underperformance.
Furthermore, Capita remains subject to all SLAs within the contract. We are applying the full mechanism of service credits for performance failures, and we continue to explore all commercial avenues to hold them to account for the quality of their delivery.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the evidence given by Paymaster General at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee session on 28 January 2026, what the estimated cost is of his Department providing (a) loans and (b) compensation to individuals impacted by delays to the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home 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.
To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans typically up to £5,000 or £10,000 in exceptional cases to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members. Capita has made lump sum payments to 8,747 members, the majority of whom have retired but are not yet receiving their pension, and are on track to bring these members into regular pension payments by the end of April. The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time. It should be noted that these are loans and expected to be recovered and are provided by the employer and not the Cabinet Office, therefore no estimate is available.
As of 24 March 2026, government employers have reported that 869 of these Transition Support Loans have been distributed, to a total value of £4.58 Million.
Interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members. In addition, the existing statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial losses, as well as distress and inconvenience caused, on a case-by-case basis to determine whether compensation is due. This ensures that any retiree who provides evidence of extra costs, such as bank penalties or interest charges caused by the delay, is fairly assessed. This process is run in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman and no estimate is available.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates