Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support retired civil servants who have not received their pensions from the Civil Service Pension Scheme in January.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.

Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive at HMRC, is working with the Cabinet Office and Capita to lead and support delivery of a full recovery plan. This includes commitments, with milestones, to immediately deal with priority cases, restore service levels and improve communication with affected members.

In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita and with an aim to restoring normal service as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.

Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

Since 26 January, the recovery team has received detailed data on all the outstanding cases, allowing us to track progress and actively manage the most urgent situations.

The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.

No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are supporting government employers to provide direct support to people facing delays in their first payments.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Capita about retired civil servants who have not received pensions from the Civil Service Pension Scheme in January.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.

Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive at HMRC, is working with the Cabinet Office and Capita to lead and support delivery of a full recovery plan. This includes commitments, with milestones, to immediately deal with priority cases, restore service levels and improve communication with affected members.

In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita and with an aim to restoring normal service as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.

Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

Since 26 January, the recovery team has received detailed data on all the outstanding cases, allowing us to track progress and actively manage the most urgent situations.

The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.

No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are supporting government employers to provide direct support to people facing delays in their first payments.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to (1) a statutory inquiry, or (2) an inquiry by the Office of Road and Rail, into the redevelopment of Oxford station by Network Rail to investigate (a) the sufficiency of preliminary planning, (b) the overrun and overspend of that project, (c) the progress in building a new platform and entrance, and (d) any compensation owed to businesses and residents in Oxford as a result of the impact of that project.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

There are no plans for either sort of enquiry, as Network Rail has apologised (as I have, as the former chair) for the prolonged time the works have taken, and the inconvenience it has caused to residents and businesses. It has also, through the former Chief Executive, Sir Andrew Haines, made sure that lessons have been learned about the false optimism which accompanied the original plan and timescale for the works, and those learnings have been applied to other projects and schemes.

I agreed with Network Rail that they would focus on getting Botley Road reopened by August, and progress is continuing on developing Network Rail’s plans to deliver the new platform and western entrance. Network Rail will present credible plans to the department to deliver this work over the coming months.

I am very sorry that these delays have impacted the local community and businesses in the area, which is why I agreed that Network Rail should make goodwill payments totalling £850,000 to businesses most impacted by the works. Network Rail, working with the Valuation Office and Oxford City Council, also agreed a reduction of up to 15% in business rates, backdated to 2023. Finally, a range of mitigation measures, including reimbursement of residents parking, provision of dedicated buses for those with mobility impairments and improvements to local roads have been put in place to reduce the impacts on residents.