What was it like stepping into a full-blown crisis? You\u2019ve had a long civil service career in operations \u2013 how did your experience prepare you for this role?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had the privilege of working for 17 years in two very big departments, DWP and HMRC, so I\u2019ve had plenty of chances to tackle major challenges simply because those departments operate at such significant scale. Those have included national crises like tackling Covid. So, I\u2019m approaching this challenge in the same way as I always do. It\u2019s about clarity of purpose \u2013 understanding the problem you are trying to solve and being laser focused on the outcome you need. In this case that\u2019s delivering what pension scheme members need as quickly as possible. It\u2019s also vital to ensure I\u2019ve got the right people around me to help me deliver \u2013 establishing the right relationships and trust with everyone involved, from members, employers and unions to ministers and parliament.<\/p>\n
You are leaving the civil service in July. What are you doing to ensure the scheme can reach and then remain at proper service levels beyond your departure?<\/p>\n
My job from the outset has been to supplement and support the work of the Cabinet Office in its accountability for the pension scheme \u2013 so I\u2019ve been working closely with the Cabinet Office leadership team to ensure we have the people and structures firmly in place for the future. Most importantly, we\u2019ve already shared the fact that we are appointing a new permanent, full-time director to lead this work going forward. So, there\u2019s lots of work going on to ensure we can sustain the effort into the long term and I\u2019m confident we will do so.<\/p>\n
The initial recovery action plan outlined in January said bereavements would be prioritised. We\u2019ve heard from bereaved spouses and other named beneficiaries who said they\u2019ve had no support and are still awaiting communications. Is there a commitment to deal with these cases by a certain date and what has prevented it happening sooner?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always with great sadness that we lose civil servants in service or after retirement. Bereavement is a profoundly difficult time for families and I sympathise completely with those who feel let down by the pension scheme. They deserve that vital support and have every right to expect it, so it\u2019s unacceptable it hasn\u2019t happened for so many spouses and families. We\u2019ve already helped lots of families and real progress has been made, but it\u2019s clear that we have not yet managed to help everybody. As you go through any recovery like this, you learn lessons \u2013 but we are continually redoubling our efforts to identify cases that have been missed and to unblock them.<\/p>\n
Very early in our recovery, from the data we could see, we believed we had identified all the relevant cases. As the recovery has progressed and we have a better flow of data, it\u2019s become clear there are more cases to be addressed. As we identify outstanding cases, we are continuing to escalate these as quickly as possible to ensure families are taken care of. That\u2019s true not only for bereavements but also for ill-health retirements.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been communicating updates on the Civil Service Pension Scheme website every couple of weeks. Everyone\u2019s circumstances are slightly different, so it can be challenging to communicate sufficient detail to address everyone\u2019s individual situation. But regular communication is still the right thing to do, so that people have as much information as possible. At the heart of every one of these data points is a family or a person who is at a really critical point in their life \u2013 that\u2019s at the forefront of everything we are doing.<\/p>\n
Has the Cabinet Office come to a conclusion about what went wrong with the transition and what, in hindsight, could have been done by the Cabinet Office, Capita and MyCSP to avoid the issues that arose upon the transfer to Capita?<\/p>\n
There are lessons to learn and it\u2019s really important that we do so. In my view, while some of these are specific to pensions, there are also lessons which are pertinent in moving any contract from one supplier to another. At the right time, we will ensure a full and proper process is undertaken on the lessons learned \u2013 but the priority right now is putting things right for the members and families who have been let down.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re getting close to the end of June deadline to return the service to expected levels. What are the major remaining issues to resolve at this point? And does anything look like it might move beyond that end of June deadline?<\/p>\n
The recovery has helped thousands of members so far and I\u2019m proud of all the efforts that have gone into achieving that. I\u2019m grateful to the civil servants from across government, including the Surge and Rapid Response Team and Cabinet Office officials who have stepped up and provided their skills to help tackle this serious problem \u2013 it\u2019s a testament to our values.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that many parts of the scheme are working as they should. For example, payments for colleagues who were already retired got transferred to Capita without interruption and in April, they got their annual increases and all their P60s went out on time. That\u2019s around 730,000 pensioners who have remained firmly, consistently in payment. But I know that is little comfort for thousands of people who are yet to get what they need. The work will continue until that happens.<\/p>\n
Capita aims to clear the backlog of quotations by the end of June. However, as I\u2019ve explained in my regular updates on the CSPS website, quotations are only one step in the retirement process and this doesn\u2019t mean members\u2019 pensions will be in payment by then. Once people have received their quote, they will need to confirm their retirement decision and return the pack to Capita, who will check the paperwork returned and then put the pension into payment. This means first payments could be around July or August. If the case is more complex, they may be contacted by Capita with further questions.<\/p>\n
I understand the distress and frustration at having to wait so long \u2013 but we are working as fast as we can with Capita to set things right. Even once the scheme does hit its recovery targets, we also recognise that it will take much longer to rebuild trust with members. This is ultimately about their experience \u2013 so we are going to have to deliver a strong experience for a long time in order to convince people that this is a service they can rely on.<\/p>\n
What range of skills have surge civil servants brought to turn things around?<\/p>\n
We are incredibly fortunate in the civil service to have an amazing Surge and Rapid Response Team. They provide temporary, deployable operational support across government during planned demand peaks, planned surges and national or regional emergencies. They have completed over 700 deployments supporting 65 government organisations since 2025 \u2013 including HMRC Self Assessment peaks, the 2021 census, the Thomas Cook repatriation and major cyber and data incidents. So these are experienced and highly skilled colleagues who are very used to being put into a whole variety of circumstances, being trained on something new and then adapting and delivering at pace. In the case of the pension scheme, they have not come in to work in areas that require deep pension knowledge, but in other areas where they can add value by driving forward vital processes.<\/p>\n
Capita\u2019s Chris Clements told CSW in March that he expected the surge team\u2019s involvement to gradually reduce from the end of April. Has this happened?<\/p>\n
The full surge team remains in place and will continue until we judge that the service has stabilised sufficiently for them to be removed.<\/p>\n
Departments have been providing bridging loans for those experiencing hardship due to missed payments, but only to those who had left within 12 months. This has meant many people have been left without financial support. How were the eligibility criteria decided upon?<\/p>\n
Firstly, it\u2019s obviously unacceptable that people should have to rely on bridging loans in the first place. I can completely understand how uncomfortable and distressing this must be for people who have worked long and hard in public service, who then have to ask their employer for this money because the pension scheme let them down. Transitional support loans are a form of employer loan that requires members to have an ongoing relationship with their employers. 1 January 2025 was chosen as the start date for loan eligibility because it balanced the need for an active relationship with our desire to support as many members as possible.<\/p>\n
There are some pension scheme members who are not in scope for these transitional support loans, including surviving spouses, dependants, pension credit members and deferred members. These groups either have a distant, or no, relationship with employers, and it is therefore not possible for employers to provide them with loans. Those in this category suffering hardship have instead been advised to reach out directly to Capita for prioritisation.<\/p>\n
How many people does the Cabinet Office estimate have delayed their retirement due to the crisis and how is it preparing for a potential backlog this could create?<\/p>\n
The historical trend is that civil servants retire at the rate of around 1,000 a week, roughly. We know some people have withdrawn or deferred their application for retirement and we know how distressing and unacceptable that is \u2013 but overall, the volume of new quote requests has not changed significantly compared to what the usual trends would be. We will ensure we are prepared for any change in that trend but as things stand, we haven\u2019t seen this happen.<\/p>\n
What impact has the crisis had on the progress of voluntary exit schemes?<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve worked with the departments concerned throughout the last six months to make sure that the life choices and life changes which are happening to those colleagues are respected and considered, just as they are for people who are retiring. That includes working to ensure quotes and payments have arrived as promised, so colleagues can make critical decisions with the full knowledge of their pension options.<\/p>\n
Has the crisis impacted progress with the McCloud remedy?<\/p>\n
I recognise that many members are still waiting for personal information about what the McCloud remedy means for them, whether they are already retired or still in service. That matters to people and it is understandable that they want clarity. The statutory deadlines for this work fall in 2027 and it remains within scope to resolve it with Capita. But my immediate priority remains the recovery work on the outstanding bereavement and ill-health cases, outstanding pensions quotations and getting the scheme operating back at its expected standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MacDonald\u2019s career will be covered in her upcoming interview for CSW\u2019s Trailblazing Women archive. Keep an eye on our website<\/a> and daily bulletin<\/a> so as not to miss it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What was it like stepping into a full-blown crisis? You\u2019ve had a long civil service career in operations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,268,85,46,266,267],"class_list":["post-514449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}