Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Rejected
Set out commercial strategy for pension administration, including benefits and costs of in-house delivery
Recommendation
There has been a small market of pension administrators bidding for the contract, potentially limiting the Cabinet Office’s ability to secure value for money for the scheme administration. Capita administered only some elements of the pension scheme before MyCSP took over the contract in 2014 to administer the whole scheme. Capita is now taking on the responsibility for administering the scheme in full from MyCSP. The Cabinet Office says that the market of pension providers is quite small, undermining its scope to encourage competitive procurements and obtain value for money for the taxpayer. In light of the small market of pension providers and need across government to apply the McCloud remedy across several pension schemes, the Cabinet Office stated that it is currently reviewing the market to understand how to encourage new entrants and ensure market resilience. It also told us that when looking to procure any significant contract like this, there would also be consideration given to the costs and benefits of delivering the service in-house. recommendation The Cabinet Office should set out in its Treasury Minute response its overall commercial strategy for pension administration including consideration of the benefits and costs of administering the scheme in-house. 5 1 Customer service Introduction
Government Response Summary
The government disagreed with the recommendation, stating it is legally required to follow the Procurement Act 2023 and its standard procurement process already includes reviewing in-house solutions for contracts.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation The Procurement Act of 2023 outlines the requirements for ensuring equal treatment and transparency across the procurement process. The Cabinet Office is legally required to follow the guidelines as set down by the Act. The Cabinet Office follows the standard procurement procedure when deciding on the needs of the contract this includes. • Identifying the need • Performing market analysis • Developing a sourcing strategy During early stages of any procurement several options are reviewed, these include reviewing whether an in-house solution is a viable option as well as the outsourcing options before any decision on procurement direction is made. All options are then assessed against a series of critical success criteria to determine the most appropriate solution for the service. The Cabinet Office will continue to comply with the Procurement Act 2023 and any future iterations for all future procurement exercises relating to Pensions. Treasury Minutes Archive1 Treasury Minutes are the Government’s response to reports from the Committee of Public Accounts. Treasury Minutes are Command Papers laid in Parliament. Session 2024-26 Committee Recommendations: 397 Recommendations agreed: 376 (95%) Recommendations disagreed: 21 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number April 2025 Government response to PAC reports 1-4, 6-9 CP 1306 May 2025 Government response to PAC reports 5,10-17 CP 1328 June 2025 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 1341 July 2025 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 1367 August 2025 Government response to PAC reports 27-34 CP 1382 September 2025 Government response to PAC reports 35-42 CP 1404 December 2025 Government response to PAC reports 43-46 48 and 49 CP 1469 Session 2023-24 Committee Recommendations: 271 Recommendations agreed: 252 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 19 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 [80 Session 22-23] CP 1029 March 2024 Government response to PAC reports 7-11 CP 1057 April 2024 Government response to PAC reports 12-18 CP 1070 May 2024 Government response to PAC reports 19-24 CP 1085 September 2024 Government response to PAC reports 26-29, 31, 33-38 CP 1151 October 2024 Government response to PAC reports 25, 26, 30 and 32 CP 1174 Session 2022-23 Committee Recommendations: 551 Recommendations agreed: 489 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 62 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 1, 3 & 10 CP 722 August 2022 Government response to PAC reports 2, 4-8 CP 708 September 2022 Government response to PAC reports 9, 13-16 CP 745 November 2022 Government response to PAC reports 11, 12, 17 CP 755 December 2022 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 774 January 2023 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 781 February 2023 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 802 March 2023 Government response to PAC reports 32-36 CP 828 1 List of Treasury Minutes responses for Sessions 2010-15 are annexed in the government’s response to PAC Report 52 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number May 2023 Government response to PAC reports 37-41 CP 845 June 2023 Government response to PAC reports 42-47 CP 847 July 2023 Government response to PAC reports 48-54 CP 902 August 2023 Government response to PAC reports 55-60 CP 921 September 2023 Government response to PAC reports 62-67 CP 941 November 2023 Government response to PAC reports 68-71 CP 968 January 2024 Government response to PAC reports 72-79 CP 1000 February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 80 [1-6 Session 23-24] CP 1029 Session 2021-22 Committee Recommendations: 362 Recommendations agreed: 333 (92%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2021 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 CP 510 September 2021 Government response to PAC reports 8-11 CP 520 November 2021 Government response to PAC reports 7,13-16 (and TM2 BBC) CP 550 December 2021 Government response to PAC reports 12, 17-21 CP 583 January 2022 Government response to PAC reports 22-26 CP 603 February 2022 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 631 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 32-35 CP 649 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 36-42 CP 667 July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 49-52 CP 722 Session 2019-21 Committee Recommendations: 233 Recommendations agreed: 208 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 25 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 1-6 CP 270 September 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 7-13 CP 291 November 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 14-17 and 19 CP 316 January 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 18, 20-24 CP 363 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 25-29 CP 376 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 30-34 CP 389 March 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 35-39 CP 409 April 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 40-