The Cabinet Office\u2019s latest update on work to address the Civil Service Pension Scheme crisis has revealed a growing number of new claims still waiting for payment more than 100 days after being lodged. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In August the government\u2019s Pensions Taskforce began publishing \u201cgranular\u201d data on the total number of cases that are more than 100 days old, broken down by the category of claim and an indication of whether it can be resolved straightforwardly. \u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the latest figures, Capita was processing 2,042 cases older than 100 days as of 15 September \u2013 a 21.7% increase on the numbers published on 7 September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of those cases, more than\u00a01,500 were described by CSPS administrator Capita as \u201cnon-workable\u201d because extra information is required before the claim can complete processing.\u00a0 That figure is an increase of 17.8% since 7 September.<\/p>\n
Conversely, just 505 of the cases were described as \u201cworkable\u201d and payable within 15 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bereavement cases account for the bulk of the claims identified as more than 100 days old. There were 1,423 of them on 15 September, up 354 from 7 September. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The latest figures<\/a> show 323 death-in-service claims that have been in the CSPS system for more than 100 days, up 15 on the previous figure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also waiting more than 100 days to complete processing were 283 claims for regular pension payments \u2013 five fewer than on 7 September \u2013 and 13 ill-health-retirement claims, one more than on 7 September.<\/p>\n Richard Vianello, the Cabinet Office\u2019s director responsible for civil service pensions, said Capita\u2019s performance \u201cremains unacceptable\u201d almost 10 months after it took over as CSPS administrator from MyCSP and the backlog crisis in the scheme<\/a> emerged.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to press Capita for plans and realistic timescales for recovery,\u201d Vianello said. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe increase in old cases is a clear indicator of continued poor performance across these priority categories. The remedial advisor is working closely with Capita to scrutinise their plans and to identify where these can be enhanced to improve the position.\u201d<\/p>\n Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson has\u00a0pledged to give members of parliament a \u201csubstantive update\u201d on the CSPS next month<\/a>, following the conclusion of the technical audit and report being carried out by remedial adviser Grant Thornton,\u00a0 under measures announced in July.<\/p>\n