Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 March 2026
Letter from the Managing Director of Capita Pensions Solutions relating to a follow-up to the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 23 February 2026
From: Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry: Civil service pensions
Summary
Capita Pensions Solutions' Managing Director sets out follow-up information requested by the Public Accounts Committee on Civil Service Pension Scheme administration. Capita commits to returning all service aspects to contracted performance levels by June 2026, outlines specific timelines for lump sum payments, retirements, death-in-service and ill-health cases, and reports on website improvements and hardship case handling (1,804 cases received, 864 paid).
Key findings
- Capita commits to returning all service aspects to contracted performance levels by June 2026, with lump sum payments and ill-health retirements targeted for February 2026 completion
- Death-in-service cases expected completed by end of February 2026; retirement cases by end of April 2026
- Voluntary Exit Scheme: inherited 4,214 cases reduced to 3,335 after data cleanse; 1,219 quotes delivered and 577 awards made as of 20 February 2026
- Call answer rate improved to 45% within 30 seconds in week of 16 February 2026, average wait time halved to 26 minutes
- Hardship cases: 1,804 received (798 active retirees, 923 deferred members); 864 paid, 375 at quote stage, 545 still being handled
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Chris Clements, Capita Pensions Solutions, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Public Accounts Committee, Cabinet Office, Civil Service Pension Scheme members
Notable line
“Capita will return all aspects of the service to standard contractual levels by June”
Key Quotes
“Firstly, I want to restate my sincere apology to those impacted by delays as we work to clear the backlog and roll out the new service.”
“Capita expects to have placed members into retirement, or undertaken all activity that it can, whilst waiting for the members' to respond, by the end of April”
“Based on current throughput, Capita expect all Priority 1 and Priority 2 cases to be completed by mid-March”
“… the data available prior to the transition did not disclose the age or type of cases within the backlog.”
“Capita has received 1,804 cases. These cases comprise 798 cases from active retirees in the last 12 months and 923 cases from members deferred for longer than the last 12 months.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗