Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency made of the adequacy of Capita Pension Solutions' performance on other public-sector pension administration contracts before exercising the option to extend its contract for administration of the Environment Agency Pension Fund.

The Environment Agency Pension Funds (EAPF) contract was awarded in accordance with procurement regulations applicable at the time. As part of the decision to exercise the option to extend its administration contract with Capita Pension Solutions (CPS), the EAPF undertook an assessment and due diligence on the performance of other public sector pension contracts.

The EA is a separate contracting authority, and the EAPF contract is separate from other CPS public-sector pension administration contracts. The EAPF has in place an 8-year contract with CPS. During the initial four-year term of the contract, CPS met its contractual service standards with the EAPF in full. Conscious of the experience of other public sector pension contracts, the EAPF considered potential performance risks and put in place mitigations to provide assurance that CPS would continue to meet its contractual service levels throughout the extension period.