Pension Scheme Concerns

Capita’s Teething Troubles

The transition required a new Pension Portal for members to access their information. From the outset, members faced:

• Registration difficulties

• Discrepancies in key data (e.g., length of service, beneficiary details)

Meeting with the Cabinet Office

On 10 December, PCS met the Cabinet Office to raise concerns. Key points:

• A system bug is causing inaccurate service records and missing beneficiary data

• Data mapping from MyCSP to Capita revealed validation failures and defects

• DEFRA Voluntary Exit Scheme cases due in October remain incomplete.

The Cabinet Office admitted there are 86,000 cases in the backlog, with Capita prioritising work. PCS has demanded regular progress reports and will maintain pressure.

Where do we go from here?

Attempts may be made to blame PCS members, including those who took strike action. The facts tell a different story:

• MyCSP and the Cabinet Office admitted to a 30,000 to 40,000 case backlog before the strike

• Transition occurred during a critical period, with McCloud Remedy cases, Voluntary Exit Schemes, and routine retirements pending

• The Public Accounts Committee warned in October: “There is a clear risk that Capita will not be ready to take over administration of the Scheme as planned on 1 December 2025.”

PCS maintains that if Capita fails to meet contractual service levels, administration must be brought back in-house under direct ministerial control.

Next Steps

PCS negotiators are scheduled to meet with the scheme in week commencing 12 January to push for increased resources to fast-track the recovery plan. We will continue to report on developments and progress.

In the meantime, if members have any queries, they can register for the Member Hub here.

Alternatively, if registration problems are persisting, the telephone number and postal address for the administrator can be found here.

'Unacceptable': The Civil Service Pension Scheme transfer six weeks on. 

Civil Service World have also reported (13 January) the ongoing events. Read their report here.