Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps she has taken to ensure retired civil servants receive pension a) quotes and b) payments on time.

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.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels

by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.

To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed, at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

We have established a new, dedicated virtual surgery process for MPs and their offices. Facilitated by the Cabinet Office Pensions Recovery Taskforce, these sessions run every weekday (Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm) and offer 45-minute slots for one-to-one updates.

We have already had good uptake of these sessions and if your team has not already, I would encourage them to book a session via the booking link here:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/csps-mp-surgeries/