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 the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 8 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, 13 April 2026

15 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from Chief Executive Officer of MyCSP relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 2 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 Executive Officer of MyCSP Ltd relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civ…

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

8 results

4 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Set out approach to ensure suppliers adequately recognise employee voice, including union recognition

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 … Read more

Government Response

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 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Set out commercial strategy for pension administration, including benefits and costs of in-house delivery

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 … Read more

Government Response

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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17 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Staff uncertainty and strike action threaten pension scheme transition due to TUPE issues

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 … Read more

Government Response

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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18 Conclusion Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

MyCSP's refusal to recognise PCS union impacts staff relations, though Capita offers hope

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, … Read more

Government Response

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.

HM Treasury

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20 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Government lacks policy requiring trade union recognition in contracts, but performance remains a concern

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 … Read more

Government Response

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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25 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Small market for outsourced pension providers necessitates review to encourage new entrants and resilience

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 … Read more

Government Response

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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26 Conclusion Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Public procurement regulations limit consideration of supplier's past performance in tendering.

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 … Read more

Government Response

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.

HM Treasury

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27 Recommendation Rejected

49th Report - Administration of th…

Insourcing government work often proves more expensive than outsourcing due to various costs.

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 … Read more

Government Response

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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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 the CEO of Capita Public Services relating to the Administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, 8 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, 13 April 2026

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

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 Executive Officer of MyCSP Ltd relating to a follow-up to the Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, 05 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

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, 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

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 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

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

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