Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to provide additional funding for teachers' pay increases.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and over £930 million being provided to support schools and high needs settings with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.

As set out in the written evidence, the department is expecting schools to be able to fund awards of 2.8% from the funding we are already giving to them. That will mean using a combination of the additional investment announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, alongside making use of their existing funds. The government has been clear that departmental settlements for the 2025/26 financial year will need to fund the next round of public sector pay awards.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the internet-based platform used for the NHS Pension Scheme; and what steps she is taking to improve training for service handlers in using the platform.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) launched the PCSE Online GP Pensions system to provide general practitioners and general practices with greater convenience, and more transparency and security when it comes to their pension contributions data. NHS England regularly monitors the effectiveness of PCSE Online, to ensure it continues to meet the needs of general practices. This includes performance management of the IT system and service, supporting PCSE’s webinar development and delivery for users, and working closely with NHS Pensions and the British Medical Association to ensure that training is reflective of any changes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) Primary Care Support England's (b) Capita's management of the NHS Pensions Scheme.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Business Services Authority is the scheme manager for NHS Pensions. NHS England is the employing authority for general practices (GPs) and undertakes local pension administration for GPs through Primary Care Support England (PCSE). NHS England entered into a contract with Capita Business Services Ltd, also known as Capita, to deliver primary care support services and save costs. In order to monitor PCSE, NHS England has a monthly governance board in place to monitor and assure the delivery of the PCSE service, which includes assessment of quality and performance indicators.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to monitor (a) PCSE and (b) Capita's performance in managing the NHS Pension Scheme.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Business Service Authority is the scheme manager for NHS Pensions. NHS England is the employing authority for general practitioners (GPs) and undertakes local pension administration for GPs through Primary Care Support England (PCSE). NHS England has a monthly governance board in place to monitor and assure the delivery of the PCSE service, which includes an assessment of quality and performance indicators.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) PCSE and (b) Capita's management of the NHS pension scheme.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Primary Care Support England’s (PCSE) services are contracted to Capita Business Services Ltd under a contract held by NHS England. As part of the service, PCSE collects general practitioner pension contribution and earnings information and passes this to NHS Pensions, which is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority. NHS England has governance in place to oversee the performance of Capita Business Services Ltd in delivering the PCSE contract in a range of ways. This includes holding PCSE to account for service delivery using key performance indicators, monitoring of complaints, and annual third-party audits.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether debts from local authorities being merged together will be taken on jointly by the new authority under her Department's local government reorganisation plans; and how any existing debt will be serviced.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

On 6 February I wrote to the leaders of two-tier councils and neighbouring unitaries to formally invite them to develop proposals for reorganisation. It is for the councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area.

As outlined in our invitation letter, in general, as with previous restructures, there is no proposal for council debt to be addressed centrally or written off as part of reorganisation. For areas where there are exceptional circumstances where there has been failure linked to capital practices, proposals should reflect the extent to which the implications of this can be managed locally, including as part of efficiencies possible through reorganisation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of waiting times for NHS Pension Scheme queries.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Pension Scheme queries can be raised with the NHS Pension Scheme administrator, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), and in the case of general practitioners (GPs), with Primary Care Support England (PCSE), who record GPs’ pensionable service and collect pension contributions.

The NHSBSA reported that in March 2025, for general queries, the average speed for a call to be answered was 173 seconds, and the average response time for emails was 0.6 days. Further information about processing times for payments, estimates, transfers, and general queries received in writing is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/current-processing-times-nhs-pensions

The pension queries received by PCSE are often complex and could involve records of GP service over multiple years, and can require working with the GP and other parties to resolve. PCSE’s services are contracted to Capita Business Services Ltd under a contract held by NHS England. NHS England has governance in place to oversee the performance of that contract, which includes monitoring the handling of queries and complaints. There are governance arrangements in place involving NHS England, PCSE, and NHS Pensions, to oversee the end-to-end service and identify areas for further improvement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of modernisation of Primary Care Support England's NHS Pensions Scheme processes.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) follows the pension scheme requirements laid down by NHS Pensions. PCSE has provided an online portal, PCSE Online, which provides general practitioners (GPs), practices, and commissioners with a simple and efficient way to manage pension payments and provide visibility on the information held by PCSE in relation to their pension. PCSE Online enables GPs and non-GP partners to determine if their pension details held by PCSE are correct, identify any gaps, and gives them the ability to self-serve a number of administrative tasks, including submitting end-of-year pension certificates. PCSE draws information from PCSE Online to update the pension scheme records of GPs held by NHS Pensions.

Found: At the Second Reading of the Bill Suella Braverman MP, Home Secretary , told the House of Commons