UK Inquiry Tracker

Civil service pensions

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 6 May 2025 Parliament page

The civil service pension scheme has 1.7m members, either in work or retired. It paid out just under £8bn to scheme members in 2023-24, with its total liabilities coming to nearly £190bn in the same year. The Cabinet Office contracted with MyCSP to administer the scheme in 2014, taking over … Read more The civil service pension scheme has 1.7m members, either in work or retired. It paid out just under £8bn to scheme members in 2023-24, with its total liabilities coming to nearly £190bn in the same year. The Cabinet Office contracted with MyCSP to administer the scheme in 2014, taking over from Capita, who are due to take over the contract once again from late 2025. During MyCSP’s administration of the contract, a number of changes to civil service pensions have impacted on what members need from their administrator and issues in the wider pensions landscape may have affected how MyCSP manages customer service. In particular the 2018 McCloud judgment , which found that the government discriminated against younger members of public service pension schemes, affected all public service pension schemes. Complaints received by the civil service pension scheme increased from 1,795 in a year to 3,753 between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The PAC’s Public Sector Pensions report in 2021 said that HM Treasury had done little to identify and manage the stark differences in average pensions between genders and other groups, and should have foreseen the age discrimination issue that gave rise to the McCloud judgment. The National Audit Office (NAO) investigated members’ experience of civil service pension administration in 2016 , which found some scheme members had experienced serious problems with the way their individual cases had been processed. The NAO in 2025 investigated the administration of the civil service pension scheme. Informed by the NAO’s findings, the PAC will hear from senior Cabinet Office officials on the levels of customer service scheme members are now receiving, and the upcoming transfer of administration to Capita. If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Monday 23 June 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

18 Recommendations

9 Conclusions

1 Report

2 Oral sessions

25 Letters

2 Events

Activity timeline 31 events

21 May
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Prospect Deputy General Secretary relating to Dealing with Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) member complaints about the …

14 May
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to Civil Service Pensions, 5 May 2026

28 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Joint PAC-PACAC letter to the Minister for the Cabinet Office relating to the Civil Service Pensions scheme (CSPS)

15 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from Chief Executive Officer of MyCSP relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 2 April 2026

15 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 13 April 2026

15 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 14 April 2026

15 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 8 April 2026

26 Mar
2026

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

26 Mar
2026

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

25 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 24 March 2026

23 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Managing Director of Capita Pension Solutions relating to an update of the civil service pension scheme, 20 March 2026

12 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Chair of the Committee to the Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service relating to a follow-up to the Administration of…

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

26 Mar 2026

View on parliament.uk

Chris Clements · Capita Public Services Richard Holroyd · Capita

7 Jul 2025

View on parliament.uk

Cat Little CB · Cabinet Office Duncan Watson · MyCSP Fiona Ryland · Cabinet Office Muna Rowe · Cabinet Office

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
49th Report - Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme	HC 888	24 Oct 2025	27	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

6 results

8 Recommendation Acknowledged

49th Report - Administration of th…

MyCSP's increased staffing shows improving contact centre performance, but remains poor

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. … Read more

Government Response

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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13 Recommendation Acknowledged

49th Report - Administration of th…

Cabinet Office contract with MyCSP lacked commercial levers, resulting in minimal fines

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 … Read more

Government Response

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 Recommendation Acknowledged

49th Report - Administration of th…

New Capita contract incorporates stronger KPIs and penalties to improve accountability and performance

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 … Read more

Government Response

HM Treasury

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15 Recommendation Acknowledged

49th Report - Administration of th…

Cabinet Office repeatedly fails to manage smooth transitions between pension scheme administrators

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 … Read more

Government Response

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 Recommendation Acknowledged

49th Report - Administration of th…

Cabinet Office confident in its capacity to manage outsourced pension contract risks

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 … Read more

Government Response

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion

49th Report - Administration of th…

Capita's public sector pension administration history includes ongoing legal challenges from unions

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 … Read more

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 18 classified

Accepted 9

Acknowledged 5

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 3

Rejected 8

Total 18 recs + 9 conclusions

Correspondence 25 letters

21 May 2026 To committee Letter from the Prospect Deputy General Secretary relating to Dealing with Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) member complaints about the impact of the unacceptable performance of scheme administrators, 15 May 2026

Parliament page

14 May 2026 To committee Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to Civil Service Pensions, 5 May 2026

Parliament page

28 Apr 2026 From committee Joint PAC-PACAC letter to the Minister for the Cabinet Office relating to the Civil Service Pensions scheme (CSPS)

Parliament page

15 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from Chief Executive Officer of MyCSP relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 2 April 2026

Parliament page

15 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 13 April 2026

Parliament page

15 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 14 April 2026

Parliament page

15 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 8 April 2026

Parliament page

25 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 24 March 2026

Parliament page

23 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Managing Director of Capita Pension Solutions relating to an update of the civil service pension scheme, 20 March 2026

Parliament page

12 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Chair of the Committee to the Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 12 March 2026

Parliament page

12 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Chair of the Committee to the Chief Executive Officer of MyCSP Ltd relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 05 March 2026

Parliament page

2 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Managing Director of Capita Pensions Solutions relating to a follow-up to the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 23 February 2026

Parliament page

23 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 16 February 2026

Parliament page

23 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 23 February 2026

Parliament page

13 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to ‘Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme: Hardship loans’, 13 February 2026

Parliament page

9 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Civil Service Pensions Scheme recovery plan, 02 February 2026

Parliament page

9 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee to the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 09 February 2026

Parliament page

6 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office regarding Civil Service Pensions, 11 November 2025

Parliament page

2 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee’s findings and recommendations on the audit of the Civil Service Pensions, 22 January 2026

Parliament page

1 Dec 2025 To committee Letter from the Head of Public Affairs and Government Relations at Capita relating to the transition of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS), 25 November 2025

Parliament page

17 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee’s recent Report on Civil Service Pensions, 03 November 2025

Parliament page

16 Oct 2025 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive Officer at MyCSP relating to the oral evidence session held on 07 July 2025 on Civil service pensions, 15 September 2025

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Officer Permanent Secretary relating to the transition arrangements to Capita for the new administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and contingency plans, 05 August 2025

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary relating to the follow ups on the oral evidence session held on 07 July 2025 on Civil Service Pensions, 28 July 2025

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Senior National Officer at Public Commercial Services Union relating to the follow up on the oral evidence session held on 07 July 2025 on Civil Service Pensions, 29 July 2025

Parliament page