Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
49th Report - Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme
Public Accounts Committee
HC 888
Published 24 October 2025
Recommendations
2
Accepted
Set out plan for remaining pension members affected by Remedy, including communication timeline
Recommendation
More than half of members who are drawing their pension and affected by Remedy are facing unacceptable waits until as late as 2027 to have their pension options set out for them. Applying remedies to members requires MyCSP to send …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states that its new pensions administrator, Capita, is undertaking discovery work to develop delivery plans for remaining affected members. It expects to conclude discovery by December 2025 and communicate detailed delivery plans and timescales to members in the first quarter of 2026.
HM Treasury
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3
Accepted
Set out plan to ensure commercial capacity, contract management and adequate customer service from suppliers
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office has not demonstrated it has sufficient capacity and capability to manage the MyCSP contract effectively and has now failed on two occasions to adequately manage the transition from one supplier to another. The Cabinet Office accepts that …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states it has implemented a new contract with 38 Performance Indicators, including Key Performance Indicators, and a system of Service Points with associated penalties for various levels of failure, to ensure robust accountability and improved customer service from its new pensions administrator.
HM Treasury
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4
Rejected
Set out approach to ensure suppliers adequately recognise employee voice, including union recognition
Recommendation
In order to ensure a smooth transition from MyCSP to Capita it is important that appropriate consideration is given to the rights of staff members transferring across. MyCSP staff who are members of the PCS union have been on strike …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation, stating it is prohibited by the Employment Act 1982 from forcing suppliers to recognise trade unions. It clarifies that its Social Value Model requires suppliers to ensure workers are informed of their right to join a trade union and have access to independent representation and grievance mechanisms, but does not mandate union recognition.
HM Treasury
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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 …
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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.
HM Treasury
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8
Acknowledged
MyCSP's increased staffing shows improving contact centre performance, but remains poor
Recommendation
We questioned MyCSP about what it was doing to ensure its staffing level was at the level it needed to be. MyCSP told us that it has recently increased staff numbers and contact centre performance is improving as a result. …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that Capita's financial cost model identifies the minimum staffing levels required, and they are recruiting an additional 60% of staff to bolster the team, with flexible staffing arrangements to cover elasticity in demand.
HM Treasury
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9
Accepted
Capita's staffing levels require replanning due to delayed IT automation and missed milestones
Recommendation
Capita is planning to have 33 fewer staff in its first year running the Scheme than the 332 MyCSP had at the start of 2025.16 When we queried whether that would be enough to provide the right levels of service …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states that Capita's financial cost model identifies the minimum staffing levels required and that Capita is recruiting an additional 60% of staff to bolster the team and deal with backlogs, with a large number already recruited and in training, and the government says the transition to Capita has already happened.
HM Treasury
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12
Accepted
Cabinet Office lacks clear method for prioritising remaining Remedy cases amidst data complexity
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office was unable to tell us how it will decide which members may be waiting up until March 2027 and explained that this would be determined by the data and how the plan is constructed.25 It said that …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and is working on implementing the Remedy, including providing revised options to the circa 132,100 impacted members who are drawing their pension, with discovery work expected to conclude in December 2025 and plans to communicate detailed delivery plans and target timescales to members in the first quarter of 2026.
HM Treasury
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13
Acknowledged
Cabinet Office contract with MyCSP lacked commercial levers, resulting in minimal fines
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office accepts that the contract with MyCSP has not always given it sufficient commercial levers to influence how the Scheme is being administered,27 despite having made multiple changes to the contract over its lifetime. For example, despite MyCSP’s …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it has embedded a robust contract management policy with a standardised approach for administering and managing contracts, including ensuring staff are skilled and trained, and that the Civil Service Pension Scheme must meet the requirements of the contract management policy.
HM Treasury
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14
Acknowledged
New Capita contract incorporates stronger KPIs and penalties to improve accountability and performance
Recommendation
We asked the Cabinet Office what in the current contract was limiting it from holding MyCSP to account for its performance, and what lessons had been learned going forward with Capita. The Cabinet Office responded that the new contract with …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it has embedded a robust contract management policy with a standardised approach for administering and managing contracts, including ensuring staff are skilled and trained, and that the Civil Service Pension Scheme must meet the requirements of the contract management policy.
HM Treasury
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15
Acknowledged
Cabinet Office repeatedly fails to manage smooth transitions between pension scheme administrators
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office’s difficulties managing the contract are particularly evident when transitioning from one supplier to another. This is the second time the Public Accounts Committee has seen the Cabinet Office fail to manage the successful transition from one administrator …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states the new contract contains 38 Performance Indicators (PI), broken down into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Subsidiary Performance Indicators (SPIs) which cover all aspects of service delivery and allow for financial penalties.
HM Treasury
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16
Acknowledged
Cabinet Office confident in its capacity to manage outsourced pension contract risks
Recommendation
We questioned the Cabinet Office about how we can be assured that it had the capacity to ensure that contractors deliver. The Cabinet Office said that it is fairly confident it has the right expertise and capacity to manage the …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states the new contract contains 38 Performance Indicators (PI), broken down into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Subsidiary Performance Indicators (SPIs) which cover all aspects of service delivery and allow for financial penalties.
HM Treasury
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17
Rejected
Staff uncertainty and strike action threaten pension scheme transition due to TUPE issues
Recommendation
On 24 June 2025, MyCSP staff who are members of the PCS union announced six weeks of strike action planned to take place in the period preceding the transition in protest at the lack of PCS involvement in Transfer of …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to ensure suppliers recognise employee voices through union recognition, stating it's prohibited from forcing suppliers to recognise unions under the Employment Act 1982, although the Social Value Act ensures fair working conditions, including the right to join a union.
HM Treasury
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19
Not Addressed
Cabinet Office acknowledges union importance, but MyCSP's refusal prompts further strike action
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office acknowledged that it is in everyone’s interests for unions and members of staff to be listened to and stated that its industrial relations team were providing support and assistance where appropriate. The Cabinet Office also acknowledged it …
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Government Response Summary
The government responds to a different recommendation on contingency plans for the Capita transition rather than addressing the issues around union recognition and employee negotiations.
HM Treasury
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20
Rejected
Government lacks policy requiring trade union recognition in contracts, but performance remains a concern
Recommendation
We queried with the Cabinet Office if it was normal practice to let a contract to an organisation that does not recognise trade unions.42 Although unable to give us a definitive answer at the time, the Cabinet Office subsequently wrote …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to ensure suppliers give adequate recognition to the voice of employees, stating that while the Social Value Model ensures fair working conditions and the right to join a trade union, it's prohibited from forcing suppliers to recognize trade unions.
HM Treasury
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21
Accepted
Capita's pension scheme transition experiences significant delays, impacting IT and payments withheld
Recommendation
The planned date of transfer of administration from MyCSP to Capita is 1 December 2025. However, of the eight transition milestones which have so far passed, only one has passed with all elements delivered on time.45 At the end of …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and has requirements in place with MyCSP to roll back the system should issues arise during the transition to Capita, allowing service delivery to continue with MyCSP until 31st December 2025, with options to extend support until the end of May 2026 if needed. The Cabinet Office has also informed the Committee chair of the decision to proceed with the transition to Capita.
HM Treasury
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22
Not Addressed
Cabinet Office finds Capita underestimated pension transition complexity, causing significant delays
Recommendation
We questioned the Cabinet Office how confident it was that there would be a smooth transition and that members would receive no disruption to service. The Cabinet Office acknowledged that delays to key deliverables were a significant concern though noted …
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Government Response Summary
The government responds to a different recommendation on contingency plans for the Capita transition rather than addressing confidence in a smooth transition for members.
HM Treasury
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25
Rejected
Small market for outsourced pension providers necessitates review to encourage new entrants and resilience
Recommendation
Noting the seemingly small concentration of suppliers, we queried with the Cabinet Office if the market for pension providers is too small and, if so, what it is going to do to ensure that it has more options in future …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating it adheres to the Procurement Act 2023, conducts market analysis, and reviews in-house solutions before making procurement decisions, ensuring equal treatment and transparency across the process.
HM Treasury
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27
Rejected
Insourcing government work often proves more expensive than outsourcing due to various costs.
Recommendation
If the market isn’t sufficiently competitive, one option we suggested that the Cabinet Office could consider is what value there might be to bringing the work in-house. The Cabinet Office said that ‘insourcing’ was always considered when making such business …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to set out its commercial strategy for pension administration including consideration of the benefits and costs of administering the scheme in-house, stating that it follows standard procurement procedures and the Procurement Act 2023.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (9)
5
Conclusion
Accepted
There is a clear risk that Capita will not be ready to take over administration of the Scheme as planned on 1 December 2025. The planned date of transfer of administration from MyCSP to Capita is 1 December 2025. However, of the eight transition milestones which have so far passed, …
Government Response Summary
The government stated it has existing contingency requirements with MyCSP for system rollback and an option to extend support until May 2026 if needed. It confirmed the decision to transfer services to Capita on 1 December 2025 and informed the Committee Chair.
1
Conclusion
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office and from MyCSP on the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (the Scheme) and arrangement beings made for the planned transfer of administration from MyCSP to Capita on 1 December …
Government Response Summary
The government outlined that Capita's financial model specifies minimum staff levels and will provide 6-monthly updates. Capita is actively recruiting an additional 60% of staff, many already undergoing training, to manage backlogs. The government confirmed the service successfully transitioned to Capita on 1 December.
7
Conclusion
Deferred
We asked the Cabinet Office and MyCSP why complaint levels were so high. Both the Cabinet Office and MyCSP told us that complaint levels and performance failures in 2024 were partly attributable to a shortage of staff. MyCSP’s core staffing level peaked in October 2023 before declining from then to …
Government Response Summary
The government's response, despite stating agreement and implementation, discussed effective engagement, developer contributions, and support for Local Planning Authorities, completely unrelated to the pension scheme administration and staff shortages mentioned in the committee's conclusion.
10
Conclusion
Not Addressed
In response to the 2018 McCloud judgement, the Government created the ‘Remedy’ programme to implement remedies to all affected members across the public sector. Applying remedies to affected civil service members requires MyCSP to send Remedial Service Statements (RSSs) to those members, presenting them with two pension options, essentially either …
Government Response Summary
The government response is missing for this conclusion.
11
Conclusion
Accepted
MyCSP is no longer processing Remedy cases whilst the Cabinet Office considers how it wants to deal with these remaining cases. We asked the Cabinet Office if it has a plan for when the remainder of those who are currently drawing their pension can expect to be contacted about their …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to provide revised options for the Remedy period (2015 to 2022) for the remaining 56% (circa 132,100 impacted members) with discovery work expected to conclude in December 2025. They expect to be able to communicate detailed delivery plans with associated timescales during the first quarter of 2026.
18
Conclusion
Rejected
MyCSP told us that it does not recognise the PCS union for collective bargaining or otherwise, because MyCSP is a part-mutual organisation with an elected, formal employee works council who are involved in negotiating terms, conditions and pay.37 It did, however, state that there were ongoing 31 Q 75 32 …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to ensure suppliers give adequate recognition to the voice of employees through union recognition. They state that the Model Services Contract has a clause for Social Value that successful bidders must comply with under the Social Value Model and that workers must have fair working conditions including the right to join a trade union or other forms of worker representation.
23
Conclusion
Accepted
We checked with the Cabinet Office what contingency plans it had should Capita’s IT systems not be ready on the transition date. The Cabinet Office asserted that it had several plans, including a more gradual roll-out of the Capita technology, and other options which are commercially sensitive, which it agreed …
Government Response Summary
The government states it has requirements in place with the current provider MyCSP in the event of a failure in the implementation cutover including the provision to roll back the system and options to extend support until the end of May 2026. It also states sufficient contingency in the Capita systems to ensure the delivery of service is increased this includes tightening of the commercial levers which will hold Capita to account for failures.
24
Conclusion
Capita administered some elements of the pension scheme before MyCSP took on full responsibility for Scheme administration in 2014.54 Capita is now due to take on that full administrative responsibility from December. Capita already administers the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme on behalf of the Cabinet Office. Capita also administers …
26
Conclusion
Rejected
We asked the Cabinet Office if it considers the past performance of companies when procuring suppliers. It said that it did take past performance into account.58 Subsequently the Cabinet Office has written to the Committee to clarify that public procurement regulations state that consideration of a supplier’s past performance when …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees, stating that it follows the Procurement Act of 2023 which outlines the requirements for ensuring equal treatment and transparency across the procurement process, including reviewing whether an in-house solution is a viable option.