Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether officials in his Department had discussions with MOD officials on the suitability of Capita to run government contracts prior to the award of the Civil Service pensions contract.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The then Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin MP, had overall responsibility for Civil Service workforce matters at the time and confirmed that the Cabinet Office should proceed to award the contract to Capita. This was further subject to the Cabinet Office’s controls process for which the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart MP, had oversight.

The contract awarded in November 2023 followed a standardised rigorous procurement process with an open and transparent evaluation process, centred on the core criteria of quality, cost, and social value.

The Cabinet Office did not approach any other government department as part of the procurement exercise, past performance is covered in the selection stage of the procurement and, as no concerns were raised at this stage, Capita progressed through to the next stage.

While Capita is not currently covering the costs associated with the deployment of the surge team, they remain responsible for any additional expenses incurred, such as the use of contractors. Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.

The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December.

The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.