Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish a timetable for implementing any recommendations arising from the Competition and Markets Authority's heating oil market study within three months of receiving the final report.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We welcome the CMA’s comprehensive examination of the heating oil industry. The Government will work closely with the CMA to understand their findings and develop options to increase consumer protections in this sector.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many additional staff have been deployed to clear the administrative backlog in relation to the Civil Service Pension Scheme; when the full complement of additional staff will be in place; and when the backlog will be cleared.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
A dedicated 140-person government surge team was deployed to clear the 15,000 inherited unread emails and stabilise operations. This support will remain in place until Cabinet Office are satisfied service levels have been restored, with an expectation of Capita picking up the cost (to be part of the post-recovery contractual settlement).
The Cabinet Office maintains a rigorous oversight of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and has addressed Capita’s data protection failure that occurred on 30 March 2026. This incident involved a session management and document generation failure on the member portal, which enabled 138 members to view the benefit statements of other individuals. Internal investigations established that this was a technical malfunction rather than a cyber-attack, following a specific technical deployment.
Following this discovery, the Cabinet Office notified the Information Commissioner’s Office and oversaw a full root cause analysis conducted by Capita. In addition to strengthening technical controls to prevent a recurrence, the Cabinet Office mandated that Capita provide formal accounts of the incident to the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. These measures ensure that the causes of the failure are fully understood and that Capita remains accountable for the security of member information.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service, continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking in response to the recent leak of Civil Service Pension Scheme members Annual Benefit Statements.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
A dedicated 140-person government surge team was deployed to clear the 15,000 inherited unread emails and stabilise operations. This support will remain in place until Cabinet Office are satisfied service levels have been restored, with an expectation of Capita picking up the cost (to be part of the post-recovery contractual settlement).
The Cabinet Office maintains a rigorous oversight of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and has addressed Capita’s data protection failure that occurred on 30 March 2026. This incident involved a session management and document generation failure on the member portal, which enabled 138 members to view the benefit statements of other individuals. Internal investigations established that this was a technical malfunction rather than a cyber-attack, following a specific technical deployment.
Following this discovery, the Cabinet Office notified the Information Commissioner’s Office and oversaw a full root cause analysis conducted by Capita. In addition to strengthening technical controls to prevent a recurrence, the Cabinet Office mandated that Capita provide formal accounts of the incident to the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. These measures ensure that the causes of the failure are fully understood and that Capita remains accountable for the security of member information.
Regular updates on the work to recover the service, continue to be posted on the Civil Service Pensions member portal and on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the ban on EU pig meat by Asian markets on the (a) number of UK imports of EU pig meat in percentage terms over the last 12 months and (b) UK pig meat supply chain.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) In the 12 months to March 2026, UK imports of pig meat from the EU fell by 12.9% by value and 6.7% by volume.
(b) The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), formed by Defra and the Devolved Governments, has routinely followed changes in pigmeat prices, including the recent downturn after several years of strong prices. Trade flow changes following Asian restrictions on EU pig meat may redirect supply back into European and UK markets, contributing to downward pressure on prices. We will continue to monitor the supply chain, including through the UKAMMG and regular engagement with industry.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on the UK pig meat sector; and what steps she is taking to support that sector through the consequences of China's ban on EU pig meat.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers meet with representatives of the pig industry as part of wider engagement with the farming sector, and we continue to work closely with stakeholders while monitoring market impacts, including how shifts in global trade flows may affect UK prices, supply, and market stability.