Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the monthly cost of civil servants working on the Civil Service Pensions Scheme recovery plan for each of the next 12 months.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) 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. While HM Government is bearing the initial costs to protect vulnerable members and restore service requirements, it has not provided a fixed monthly estimate for the next 12 months. This is because formal commercial discussions with Capita Pensions Solutions Ltd in relation to the costs of this government intervention will commence once the service has successfully stabilised.

We are applying contractual levers available to us to deal with performance failures, and we continue to explore all commercial avenues to hold them to account for the quality of their delivery. For example, 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.

The Cabinet Office does not provide training to staff employed by Capita Pensions Solutions Ltd; instead, the contractor is responsible for ensuring its workforce meets the required proficiency standards. Staff must complete a training programme covering both systems and soft skills, with mandatory sign-offs required before they are permitted to handle specific case types. For sensitive cases involving bereaved individuals, Capita utilises a dedicated team where staff only progress to these complex queries after passing rigorous performance assessments.