Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Capita's ability to operate the Civil Service Pension contract under its current terms when the recovery plan concludes.
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 on 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 been applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
The Cabinet Office has mandated Capita that they must restore service levels by the end of June 2026. We are using every commercial lever at our disposal, including withholding payments for deliverables that have not been met. We also reserve the right to take further formal action to ensure the service returns to the required standards. This will continue throughout the contract to ensure Capita’s contractual requirements are delivered.
The government has deployed surge resources to increase capacity at Capita, including a Civil Service surge team of approximately 140 people. Capita has also increased its resources, now operating with 500 full-time staff, which is a 50% increase compared to the previous pension administrator. Resources will continue to be monitored post recovery to ensure there are adequate and appropriately skilled resources in place to deliver services.
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.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service, continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the need for (a) additional resources and (b) mechanisms to award compensation to those who have experienced hardship and financial losses due to Civil Service Pensions processing delays following the transfer to 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 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 on 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 been applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
The Cabinet Office has mandated Capita that they must restore service levels by the end of June 2026. We are using every commercial lever at our disposal, including withholding payments for deliverables that have not been met. We also reserve the right to take further formal action to ensure the service returns to the required standards. This will continue throughout the contract to ensure Capita’s contractual requirements are delivered.
The government has deployed surge resources to increase capacity at Capita, including a Civil Service surge team of approximately 140 people. Capita has also increased its resources, now operating with 500 full-time staff, which is a 50% increase compared to the previous pension administrator. Resources will continue to be monitored post recovery to ensure there are adequate and appropriately skilled resources in place to deliver services.
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.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service, continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing resources at Capita to manage case volume, following the Civil Service Pensions recovery plan being completed.
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 on 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 been applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
The Cabinet Office has mandated Capita that they must restore service levels by the end of June 2026. We are using every commercial lever at our disposal, including withholding payments for deliverables that have not been met. We also reserve the right to take further formal action to ensure the service returns to the required standards. This will continue throughout the contract to ensure Capita’s contractual requirements are delivered.
The government has deployed surge resources to increase capacity at Capita, including a Civil Service surge team of approximately 140 people. Capita has also increased its resources, now operating with 500 full-time staff, which is a 50% increase compared to the previous pension administrator. Resources will continue to be monitored post recovery to ensure there are adequate and appropriately skilled resources in place to deliver services.
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.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service, continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will launch an independent inquiry into the potential role of Peter Mandelson in negotiating contracts between the UK Government and Palantir; and if he will make it his policy to publish the results of that inquiry.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025, are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to update the Cabinet Manual in the near future.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government takes the function of the Cabinet Manual seriously and we will keep it under review.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister has agreed a date to meet with victims of press abuse, following his remarks at the Liaison Committee on 15 December 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office are in contact to arrange a meeting.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 21 November 2025 to question UIN 90771, what steps he is taking to monitor the performance of the handover of the new Civil Service Pension Scheme contract to Capita, including monitoring and taking action on missed payments to new pensioners and reported errors in the new online portal.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The previous administrator, MyCSP continued to make payments up to and including 1 December. Capita assumed control of the payroll from 2 December and continues to pay pensioners continuously in line with the contractual requirements.
The Cabinet Office is monitoring Capita’s services via ‘Early Life Support’ during December. This involves Capita providing regular updates across different workstreams, offering quick issue resolution and performance monitoring to ensure stability. Once this is completed early in 2026, phase 2 will progress which is Capita increasing the functionality and automation within the portal which will increase the member self serve options. The Cabinet Office will monitor this period for approximately 6 months.
An issue was identified with the new scheme website shortly after launch that caused the website and portal to run slowly. Capita immediately identified the issue and worked with Microsoft to rectify the issue. By 4 December, the website was considerably improved and we now have 37,000 members registered on the member portal as of 5 December.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposal for mandatory digital ID on the UK’s obligations under the common travel area; and what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on this issue.
Answered by Josh Simons
Digital ID will not be mandatory for UK citizens. The government will launch a public consultation on the design of the new digital ID which will inform ongoing policy development and assessments of impacts.
We have spoken with the Government in Northern Ireland and the Irish Government and will continue to engage to ensure systems work for people on both sides of the border, respecting the Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the percentage change in real terms of the average cost per kilometre to an individual of travelling by (a) private car, (b) bus, (c) train and (d) domestic aeroplane since (i) 1997, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2015, (iv) 2017 and (v) 2019.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 30/07/24 is attached.