Committee publication · Correspondence · 1 December 2025

Letter from the Head of Public Affairs and Government Relations at Capita relating to the transition of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS), 25 November 2025

From: Public Accounts Committee

Inquiry: Civil service pensions

Summary

Capita's Head of Public Affairs updates the Public Accounts Committee on the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS) transition scheduled for 1 December 2025. Capita confirms go-live readiness with over 500 FTE staff, enhanced digital features launching by March 2026, and acknowledges three significant legacy backlogs: 132,100 McCloud remediation cases, 74,000+ work-in-progress items (double the contracted figure), and 21,000 voluntary exit transactions requiring dedicated resourcing.

Key findings

  • Capita goes live 1 December 2025 with 500+ FTE staff (vs. initial 332 FTE), including 16% increase in contact centre capacity
  • Three major operational challenges inherited: McCloud remediation (132,100 cases), Work in Progress backlog (74,000+ items vs. 37,000 contracted), and voluntary exits (21,000 transactions)
  • Digital enhancements launching December 2025–March 2026: new gov.uk-standard website, enhanced telephony, Track My Case, Retire Online, and AI-driven automation
  • Capita and PCS trade union have reached formal recognition agreement
  • Acknowledges backlogs may cause initial spike in complaints and take several months to resolve, with automation and AI adoption as key improvement strategy

Tone

Procedural

Topics

public-financecivil-service-pensionsdigital-transformationcontractor-performance

Key actors

Capita plc, Geoffrey Clifton Brown MP, Public Accounts Committee, Cabinet Office, Ross Haynes, Cat Little, MyCSP, PCS trade union

Notable line

… these three areas may take several months to resolve or vastly reduce back to expected levels and may even potentially lead to an initial spike in complaints

Key Quotes

Capita will go live with 332 full time equivalent (FTE) staff, I can update you that Capita will soon have over 500 FTE working to deliver CSPS
Ross Haynes · staffing update vs. original committee report
… the volume of the WIP left by MyCSP will be more than double the previously agreed figure of 37,000 items at the time of contract signature
Ross Haynes · Work in Progress backlog disclosure
… these three areas may take several months to resolve or vastly reduce back to expected levels and may even potentially lead to an initial spike in complaints
Ross Haynes · acknowledging service disruption risks
Capita and the PCS trade union have held thorough discussions about a formal recognition agreement, and I can confirm that an agreement has been successfully reached
Ross Haynes · labour relations update
View original document →

Source · parliament.uk record ↗

Letter from the Head of Public Affairs and Government Relations at Capita relating to the transition of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS), 25 November 2025 | Beyond The Vote | Beyond The Vote