Pensions

Read about our campaigning on pensions overpayments and the McCloud Judgement.

On 1 December 2025, Capita took over the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme from MyCSP/Equiniti. A new online portal was set up to replace the previous one from MyCSP, which led to many issues for pension scheme members.

Later in December, Capita disclosed they had inherited a backlog of 86,000 cases.

The issue came at a time when more retirements and severance schemes are being initiated by civil service employers.

PCS met with the Cabinet Office on 10 December to raise our concerns and continue to meet with the Cabinet Office regularly.

We wrote to the Cabinet Office on 9 January calling for:

• Urgent clarification on resourcing
• A firm timeline for clearing the backlog and restarting work on the McCloud Remedy
• Confirmation that Capita will prioritise work to release delayed payments
• The development of a proactive compensation scheme for protracted delays.

On 22 January PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote wrote to Cat Little, chief operating officer for the civil service, repeating our demands above, asking that Capita will prioritise hardship cases and that serious consideration be given to returning the administration of the pension scheme to the civil service.

Several MPs have raised the issue of pensions in parliament on behalf of their constituents and we are asking members to complete our e-action to write to their MPs asking them to intervene urgently.

It is thought that thousands of retired civil servants are struggling financially because of this crisis.

On 28 January, Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office and chief operating officer for the civil service, sent a message to all civil servants admitting that the situation affecting Civil Service Pensions has caused hardship and falls short of the service scheme members deserve.

An emergency payment loan scheme was set up, with interest-free loans available to members who are awaiting pension payments. If it is within 12 months of retiring, the loan should be applied for through employers.

Overdue pension and lump sum payments will have interest added at Bank of England base rate (currently 3.75%) plus 1%, and in March the government confirmed that pension scheme members who have experienced unacceptable delays will be eligible to receive compensation for distress and inconvenience.

MPs continue to ask questions in parliament about the pensions crisis and pressure has been increased since Capita's contract to administer the Royal Mail Pension Scheme was terminated because of key failures.