Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to hold Capita accountable where it fails to provide GPs with accurate annual pension statements under the Primary Care Support England scheme.

Capita, who delivers Primary Care Support England (PCSE), does not issue pension statements to general practitioners (GPs), as this is the responsibility of NHS Pensions, which is managed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). PCSE updates GP pension records once the appropriate type one or type two annual certificate is submitted to PCSE for processing by the GP.

In order for NHS Pensions to generate an annual pension benefits statement, it is necessary for the GP’s pension record to be up to date, with no missing annual certificate for prior years. NHS England works closely with PCSE and NHS Pensions to ensure that GPs are supported, through a series of webinars and guidance documents, to submit accurate information in a timely manner. NHS England tracks PCSE’s performance on a monthly basis against contractual performance targets. NHS England continues to work with PCSE, NHS Pensions, and GP representative bodies to rectify historical gaps in GP records.

More generally, the importance of checking PCSE Online to ensure that all required type one or type two forms are showing as approved, and to submit certificates if there are any missing years to get records up to date, is highlighted in communications to GPs.