Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 May 2026
Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to Civil Service Pensions, 5 May 2026
From: Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry: Civil service pensions
Summary
Capita's CEO provides the Public Accounts Committee with an April 2026 monthly progress update on the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) recovery plan. Capita reports that payroll remains reliable (715,783 members received £644m in payments), member portal registrations have grown to 303,000, and priority cases (bereavement, ill-health) are operating at normalised levels. The company acknowledges overall performance is not yet acceptable but states key milestones remain on track for completion by end-June 2026, with approximately 1,800 outstanding MP casework cases being addressed.
Key findings
- In April, 715,783 CSPS members received pension payments totalling £644m (£3.26bn issued since go-live); payroll continues to run reliably on scheduled dates once processing completes.
- Member portal registrations grew to 303,000 in April; further service improvements include a new chatbot with high usage levels, though Annual Benefit Statement technical issues were reported on 14 April.
- Call centre wait times temporarily increased to 40 minutes average in early April due to end-of-year volumes, but hardship and bereavement lines remained under two minutes; times are normalising with additional staff.
- Capita expects to clear arrears and achieve payment of all due monies by end of May; quotation processing (25,677 open cases) remains on track for end-June milestone; bereavement cases on schedule for end-May.
- Approximately 1,800 outstanding MP casework cases are being managed; MP casework teams will receive updates across May and June with planned drop-in sessions.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Richard Holroyd, Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown MP, Capita Public Services, Civil Service Pensions Taskforce, Cabinet Office
Notable line
“We recognise that overall performance is not yet where it needs to be, and we remain fully accountable for delivering the agreed recovery milestones and restoring confidence …”
Key Quotes
“In April, 715,783 members received their pension payments. This amounted to £644m pension payments issued during the month”
“We recognise that overall performance is not yet where it needs to be, and we remain fully accountable for delivering the agreed recovery milestones and restoring confidence in the service.”
“During the weeks commencing 7 th and 14 th April, call volumes to CSPS more than doubled compared to March.”
“At the time of writing, Capita expects that all members due payments will receive their monies by the end of May.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗