Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 February 2026

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee’s findings and recommendations on the audit of the Civil Service Pensions, 22 January 2026

Summary

Catherine Little, Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, responds to the Public Accounts Committee's findings on Civil Service Pensions audit. She reports that Capita's takeover of pension administration from MyCSP on 1 December 2025 has encountered significant operational difficulties: a backlog of 120,000 cases, contact centre call volumes three times expected levels, and non-payment of pensions causing member hardship. She outlines immediate recovery actions including appointing Angela MacDonald (Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC) to lead a stabilisation effort.

Key findings

Capita inherited approximately 90,000 cases from MyCSP and faces a current work-in-progress backlog of around 120,000 cases, unable to process at sufficient pace
Contact centre experiencing 3,600 calls daily versus expected 1,300, causing very long wait times for 750,000 pensioner members
Some members have experienced hardship through non-payment of pensions; non-payment is described as 'not acceptable'
Cabinet Office has appointed Angela MacDonald (Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC) to lead a recovery team partnering with Capita and departmental leaders
Cabinet Office considering bridging payments and other support for individuals experiencing delays with pension payments
PCS strike action lasting July–December 2025 contributed significantly to the backlog prior to Capita's transition

Tone

Critical

Topics

public-financecivil-service-pensionsgovernment-contractingservice-delivery

Key actors

Catherine Little CB, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Capita, MyCSP, Angela MacDonald, PCS, Public Accounts Committee, Cabinet Office

Notable line

“This is not acceptable. ● The planned volume of Civil Service Compensation Scheme voluntary exit schemes.”

Key Quotes

“Capita's inability to process these cases at sufficient pace and volume has meant that some members have experienced hardship through non payment of pensions due. This is not acceptable.”
— Catherine Little CB · Describing the work-in-progress backlog crisis

“… although the scale and complexity of this transition is significant, we are falling far short of our expectations from members.”
— Catherine Little CB · Acknowledging service failure seven weeks into Capita transition

“Capita has also experienced a number of issues that have negatively impacted the members' experience and prevented them from being able to effectively deliver some services.”
— Catherine Little CB · Overview of Capita's operational difficulties since 1 December 2025

“… the contact centre continues to experience over three times the expected amount of daily calls and as such members are experiencing very long wait times.”
— Catherine Little CB · Describing persistent contact centre capacity crisis

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗