Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 13 April 2026
From: Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry: Civil service pensions
Summary
CEO Richard Holroyd of Capita Public Services responds to the Public Accounts Committee's questions following a 26 March 2026 evidence session on Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS) administration. Capita commits to monthly progress updates and details performance across contact centre operations, portal access, service recovery timelines, and procedural improvements including staff training and terminology changes.
Key findings
- Call drop-off rates within 30 seconds represent 0.07% (29 of 41,514 calls in March 2026); no evidence of policy incentivising early call termination
- Customer satisfaction survey launched week of 30 March shows 47.93% satisfaction and 89.27% 'appropriate care' scores; three call-handler complaints investigated since 1 December 2025 out of 112,000 calls
- Portal registration reached ~260,000 members since 1 December 2025; c.1% of members unable to access due to duplicate records, missing data, or lack of mobile numbers; Capita systematically addressing each category
- Service recovery milestones: retirement arrears clearance by 30 April 2026, bereavement cases by 29 May 2026, quotations by 30 June 2026; McCloud remedy implementation targeted mid-2027
- Approximately 90% of call-handling staff trained in identifying financial difficulties; remaining 10% scheduled to complete by 24 April 2026; 'hardship loan' terminology being replaced with 'transition loan'
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Richard Holroyd, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Charlotte Cane MP, Capita Public Services, Cabinet Office, HMRC, James Fenny, Cat Litte CB
Notable line
“Capita recognises that there should be a limit to the cost to the taxpayer.”
Key Quotes
“I would like to strongly reaffirm to the Committee that there is no policy or incentive present for call handlers to end a call early.”
“… is updating our internal scripts and Public member facing materials to replace the term "hardship loan" with "transition loan" , reflecting the Committee's concern that existing terminology is insensitive.”
“Capita aims to resolve cases within the inherited backlog of overdue retirement payments by 30 th April”
“On 10 th April 2026, Capita wrote to the Cabinet Office to offer to cover costs until those surge colleagues can return to civil service duties.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗