Capita to miss 30 June deadline on Civil Service Pensions
In a meeting with PCS, the Cabinet Office has confirmed that it expects Capita will miss the ministerial deadline to restore pension administration services to contractual standards.
In April, the paymaster general and minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, made it clear that Capita was expected to deliver the full terms of its £239 million contract by no later than 30 June 2026.
However, PCS has been informed in a meeting on 12 June, that not only will the service fail to meet contractual standards by the ministerial deadline, but the extensive recovery operation established to prop up the failing contractor will also need to continue beyond that date.
Critical cases, including bereavement and ill-health retirements, were due to be resolved by February 2026. Four months later, they are still being actively chased and escalated.
Around 150 staff from HMRC’s “Surge” team, brought in earlier this year as an emergency measure, will be required to stay on to help clear backlogs and support core pension administration functions that Capita has been unable to deliver.
Keep the pressure on
The scale of concern among scheme members is reflected in the level of parliamentary engagement. To date, 607 MPs have received at least one email from constituents about this crisis, with more than 3,134 emails sent in total. Please use our e-action to contact your MP if you haven’t already done so.
We have launched a petition, with the TUC, to ask the Paymaster General to bring administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme back in-house. Please sign the petition which also calls for the government to suspend any further contract awards involving Capita, pending a full review.
Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said: "This is beyond disappointing, but I can’t say it’s surprising. Capita has missed deadline after deadline, yet civil servants and pension scheme members continue to pay the price for those failures.
"Minor financial penalties mean little, when you look at the size of the contracts they’ve been rewarded. They're certainly no comfort if you're facing financial hardship because you've retired and your pension hasn't been paid.
“Ministers must now take immediate steps to bring the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme back into the civil service."