Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in the provisions relating to the Capita contract, sufficient scope was made for the transfer of personal data relating to civil service pensions scheme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office ensured that the contract with Capita provided a comprehensive scope for the transfer of all necessary data. Throughout the two-year transition period, the Cabinet Office, MyCSP, and Capita worked in close partnership to monitor data-sharing protocols. This approach ensured all of the scheme data, including personal data, was successfully transferred to Capita on the go-live of their administration of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in relation to the operation of the civil service pension scheme, loss of data has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office maintains strict oversight of data security within the Civil Service Pension Scheme. No incidents of data loss have been identified or reported. As no data breach has occurred, the Department has had no requirement to inform the Information Commissioner's Office
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77413 on Teachers: Workplace Pensions, how many civil service pension accounts have unresolved cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) requests.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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 to ensure members receive the support they deserve. While the immediate focus remains on stabilising the service through this intensive recovery plan, we are committed to ensuring all 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 applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
As of 6 March 2026, there were 2,286 open case requests regarding Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) quotes and actions on civil service pension member accounts. This includes recent CETV applications, and as such, there will always be a number of outstanding CETV cases at any given time.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: (latest update 16 March): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-16-march-2026
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 17 of the Civil Service Recruitment Framework, updated 2022, whether the appointment of a Senior Civil Servant SCS3 (a) on temporary promotion and (b) without open and fair competition requires Ministerial approval.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Appointments of existing civil servants on temporary promotion are internal moves and permissible within fair and open recruitment. Paragraph 17 of the Civil Service Recruitment Framework relates to permanent redeployment moves.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to UIN 116915, what the most recent data for outstanding backlog Civil Service Pension cases his department has been informed of by Capita.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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.
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 confirms that the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) administrator inherited 86,000 cases from the previous provider. Significant progress has been made in clearing the most urgent components of this inherited backlog, supported by an established recovery plan.
Key achievements as of 13 March 2026:
The inherited backlog of 15,000 unread emails was fully addressed by the end of February 2026.
Of the 8,063 inherited retirement lump sum cases, 6,871 payments have been processed, ensuring all inherited lump sums are paid where full information has been received.
For urgent cases, outstanding workable cases have been significantly reduced, returning to or nearing normalised work in progress levels.
All February and March back office delivery promises are on track due to the deployment of additional CO and Capita surge resource.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: (latest update 16 March): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-16-march-2026
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The total value of severance payments is set out in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available online for the last three years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects to announce the Partnership Contingent Decision route in connection with the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
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 CSPS launched the Contingent Decision process for members who opted out of the scheme in July 2025. However, the process for members who switched to the Partnership pension scheme involves additional complexity, requiring the reconciliation of contributions between defined contribution and defined benefit arrangements. Planning is underway to define the process and timeline, and we aim to open the process later in 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made changes to the Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm's-Length Bodies since July 2024.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Approvals Process for creating new Arm's-Length Bodies (ALBs) has not changed since July 2024. Approval for setting up a new ALB must be sought formally from Cabinet Office ministers and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury before any decision about any new ALB is made. It is government policy that arm’s length bodies should only be set up as a last resort, when there is no viable alternative. New bodies are also being considered under the same principles as the wider ALB review, as announced on 6 April 2025.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many industrial plants employing over 200 people have closed in the last year.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics.
Lord Redwood
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
26 March 2026
Dear Lord Redwood,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many industrial plants employing over 200 people have closed in the last year (HL15771).
It is not possible to answer the question as asked because these data are not available by the number of employees. However, by using the quarterly business demography dataset[1], it is possible to make an estimate of the number of businesses within the production industries which have closed in the last year.
The number of businesses within the production industries which have closed in the year 2025 is estimated to be 12,510.
The quarterly business demography statistical release is regarded as ‘official statistics in development’.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/businessdemographyquarterlyexperimentalstatisticsuk/latest
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the establishment of a National School for Government; and when they plan to launch it.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The creation of the National School for Government and Public Services was announced by Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones on 20 January 2026. The purpose of the school is to support ambitions for a world-class, professional Civil Service. It is scheduled to be launched later this year.