John McDonnell

The £239 million contract with Capita covers the day-to-day management of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, but it does not include the specific cost of resolving the remaining McCloud remedy cases. The Cabinet Office is funding this complex rectification work through a separate, dedicated project, Remedy Project 7, at an additional cost of £45 million.

As scheme manager, the Cabinet Office is meeting this cost directly to fulfil its legal obligation to resolve the age discrimination identified by the courts. By treating this as a distinct project, the department ensures greater accountability for the remedy's delivery while preventing these complex legacy cases from impacting "business as usual" pension services for other members.

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

The delays facing scheme members are unacceptable, and no former civil servant should face financial hardship as a result. There is a robust recovery plan in place to ensure normal service can resume as soon as possible.

Arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.

Interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members. In addition, the existing statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial losses, as well as distress and inconvenience caused, on a case-by-case basis to determine whether compensation is due. This ensures that any retiree who provides evidence of extra costs, such as bank penalties or interest charges caused by the delay, is fairly assessed. This process is run in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman. The Cabinet Office is working with Capita to ensure this process is applied as efficiently as possible.

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.

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.

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.

The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. Advocating for civil and political rights is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement with Pakistan. To that end, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised human rights issues on several occasions with Ministers in Pakistan. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan in accordance with its constitution and international standards.

All export licences for military and dual-use equipment are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Once granted, all our licences are kept under close and continual review and can be revoked or suspended if necessary.

As our most recent data on export licences show, last year licences have been refused to Pakistan both where there has been a risk of diversion for an undesirable end use, and due to concerns the items may be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.

The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. Advocating for civil and political rights is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement with Pakistan. To that end, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised human rights issues on several occasions with Ministers in Pakistan. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan in accordance with its constitution and international standards.

All export licences for military and dual-use equipment are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Once granted, all our licences are kept under close and continual review and can be revoked or suspended if necessary.

As our most recent data on export licences show, last year licences have been refused to Pakistan both where there has been a risk of diversion for an undesirable end use, and due to concerns the items may be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.

The average time taken by The Insolvency Service to investigate corporate civil misconduct, in the 6-months to 30 September 2025, was 188 days from allocation to an investigator to the investigation being completed.

The government is committed to improving the wellbeing and work-life balance of all workers, including those navigating the difficult journey of fertility treatment. We are introducing measures through the employment rights bill to make flexible working available to more people, more easily. This change could help employees and employers agree arrangements that support attendance at medical appointments, including those for IVF.

The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct and supports voluntary due diligence approaches taken by UK businesses to identify and prevent human rights abuses across their operations and supply chains, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging, to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices and take action where appropriate.

A statistical publication estimating the rate of fuel poverty for those in receipt of Winter Fuel Payment in 2023, and the proportion of households who would be in fuel poverty under new eligibility criteria, will be published in due course.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan set out how the UK can lay the foundations for AI growth, including the creation of AI Growth Zones.

To be considered, sites must be capable of delivering at least 500 MW of power for AI workloads by 2030, offer a minimum of 100 acres of land for development by 2028, and set out credible plans covering planning, delivery, and local economic benefits. These criteria were published on the government website as part of the AIGZ process earlier this year, which can be found here: AI Growth Zones: open for applications - GOV.UK

The Government is committed to supporting alternatives to animals in science and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. We have reviewed the European Commission's (EC) Life Sciences Strategy and engaged with the European Medicines Agency on accelerating the science-led adoption of alternatives for a range of uses of animals in science, including chemicals, medicines and cosmetics. Government officials regularly attend international meetings to collaborate on best practice and consider approaches to reducing reliance on animal testing, including attending European Commission workshops on the EC roadmap to phasing out animal testing for chemicals.

DSIT has allocated £13.9 billion to the R&D budget for the 2025/26 financial year. Below are UK Research and Innovation's Natural Environment Research Council budget allocations over the past five financial years for the British Antarctic Survey (including the Antarctic Logistics and Infrastructure (ALI) Partition, which is a ringfenced slice of the science budget to support the UK presence in Antarctica); and the National Oceanography Centre:

The European Marine Energy Centre has not been allocated any funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Natural Environment Research Council to date.

The allocation of UKRI funding to the Natural Environment Research Council was published in the following reports:

• BEIS Research and Development (R&D) Budget Allocations 2021 to 2022
• BEIS Research and Development (R&D): UK Research and Innovation Allocation 2022-2023 to 2024-2025 and
• DSIT Research and Development (R&D) Allocations for 2025/2026