The UK government is in the process of reducing its reliance on data from Capita in regard to the performance of the troubled civil service pension administration, which the supplier is responsible for.
Capita has denied claims made in a Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) member forum that it could be years before the service meets expected standards, calling it “opinion” rather than “fact”.
Since it took over the contract from previous supplier MyCSP in December 2025, Capita has failed to meet its delivery promises and left claimants in severe financial difficulties, including months with no income.
According to the government department’s director in charge of the scheme, the process of creating a team that will have direct access to Capita systems to check that data provided by the outsourcer is reliable.
Unwanted reliance
In an email exchange with a CSPS member, scheme director Richard Vianello admitted the government is “currently reliant on management information provided by Capita,” but said he is “looking to change that”.
The CSPS claimant wrote that the government should stop relying on Capita’s figures. “It’s not an exemption to quote them without checking their veracity,” they said. “A cabinet office or independent person should be in there who can provide genuine data.”
The process to do this has begun, Vianello told the CSPS claimant. “… We are in the process of sifting applications for a new Quality Assurance function in One Gov/Cabinet Office,” he wrote. “I have agreed with Capita that this team will have direct access to Capita systems, and be able to validate/assure the data we receive.”
He added that the government is already “delving into the information provided and selecting cases at random for a quality assurance walkthrough” and has asked independent remedial advisor Grant Thornton to review a sample of cases.
“Following feedback from members, I have committed to providing data going forward on the oldest cases, where the member or administrator has been waiting over 100 days,” said Vianello. “My aim is to provide this data consistently, so members can see progress over time. In previous updates we have shared different aspects of delivery, and I agree that it has been difficult to unpick progress as a result.”
The Cabinet Office said it is “continuing to build capability in its management team to ensure continued strong oversight, including on data”.
Overdue payments
The email exchange began with the CSPS member bringing to Vianello’s attention claims being made on the CSPS member Facebook page that it could be years before the Capita service reaches the quality expected.
Members of the CSPS scheme have contacted Computer Weekly and are deeply concerned about the allegations.
The claims, said to be from a conversation with a scheme member and the CSPS helpline, were published on a member group forum, and have been sent to Computer Weekly by two people independently.
The claims included that there were between 130,000 and 140,000 outstanding overdue payments waiting to be issued for people that have already had claims approved. Another, that it will take many months or even years for Capita to bring the delivery of their service in line with the service level agreement and the person making the claim, cast doubts that they will ever be able to do so.
“If true, this is a huge concern,” said one CSPS member still waiting for his pension.
In reply to the member, Vianello wrote: “I do not recognise the data that has apparently been shared.”
In response to the claim, Capita said: “As you must accept, our brilliant and hardworking helpline colleagues are not party to the full detail of the remediation plan. If this exchange did take place as you described, the anonymous Capita team member would have been expressing an opinion, rather than a fact.”
The Cabinet Office says it does not recognise the overdue figures quoted.
Capita won the CSPS administration contract in 2023, when the Cabinet Office awarded Capita a seven-year deal worth £239m. It was set to replace MyCSP on 1 December 2025, but it has seen huge disruption and chaos for members since then.
Trouble from go
Early, in October last year, a couple of months before Capita was set to take over, a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report said there is a “real risk” that Capita will not be ready to take over the administration of the scheme on time. The outsourcer hit back, claiming it is “not reflective of the current state of the transition”, calling the report inaccurate.
There have been multiple PAC hearings since, featuring both Capita and the Cabinet Office, with reassurances repeatedly given to MPs that Capita would get the service to the expected levels.
Capita said: “We recognise there is more to do to restore the service members should expect. Our focus remains on resolving outstanding cases and delivering against the next milestone in the remediation plan at the end of September.
“We remain sorry for the impact the service issues have had on members and are continuing to work closely with the Cabinet Office as we deliver the wider recovery.”
The scheme looks set to be brought in-house, but such a move would be in line with the government’s plan to “move forward the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation”.
A Cabinet Office Spokesperson said: “The service levels following the move to Capita have been completely unacceptable. Our immediate priority is to stabilise the service to give current and former Civil Servants the service they deserve.
“While robust commercial levers will continue to be applied in the short term, including withholding nearly £10m in payments, the government intends to move forward the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation and is actively shaping a long-term strategy to bring this pension scheme back in-house.”
