entitled to have remedy options for their pensions set out<\/a>, potentially resulting in a higher entitlement. Today\u2019s report says\u00a0that as of July, 53% of affected scheme members who are currently drawing their pension\u00a0had yet to receive a \u201cremedial service statement\u201d\u00a0that would allow them to\u00a0make their choice and have it processed.\u00a0<\/p>\nPublic Accounts Committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said it was \u201cdeeply frustrating\u201d for the panel to be\u00a0scrutinising\u00a0an issue that ought to be as seamlessly run as civil service pensions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also called on the Cabinet Office to be transparent about the costs of bringing administration\u00a0of the CSPS back in house at the Cabinet Office.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cScheme members who have dedicated their careers to public service ought to be secure in the knowledge that it is under sound administration,\u201d he said. \u201cFor value for money to be in question in the administration of this scheme; for members to be kept waiting years for age-related discrimination within the scheme to be remedied; for the Cabinet Office to successively fail in its management of the contract for the scheme as it shuttles between\u00a0suppliers \u2013\u00a0this is an indictment of a system that should be invisibly run for the benefit of public servants who deserve security following their retirement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cGiven the performance of the scheme in the past as it has shuttled back and forth between different administrators, and equivalent risks\u00a0identified\u00a0in the future by our committee\u2019s\u00a0report, it is time for the government to publicly take stock.\u00a0The costs and benefits of bringing the scheme back in-house must now be laid out. Whatever route is taken in the future, the status quo has long clearly not been good enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said:\u00a0\u201cWe have re-procured the contract for civil service pensions administration, adding\u00a0additional\u00a0commercial measures so we\u00a0maintain\u00a0the strongest levers and controls over the performance of the service to members moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working closely with Capita to ensure a successful transition but have always been clear that a final decision will need to be taken ahead of the scheduled transition date.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Capita\u2019s statement\u00a0added:\u00a0\u201cCapita is preparing to take on administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme from 1 December 2025, working with the Cabinet Office to support a successful transition. We are proud to have been selected to deliver such a vital service, supporting over 1.5 million current and former public\u00a0servants.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adrian\u00a0Prandle, assistant general secretary of the FDA union, said the PAC report had drawn \u201cstark\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but unsurprising \u2013 conclusions” about the administration and contract management of the CSPS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is essential the Cabinet Office ensures the transfer from\u00a0MyCSP\u00a0to Capita is a success and a reliable, speedy, and\u00a0accurate\u00a0service is urgently restored,\u201d he said. \u201cAny potential delay to the transfer must come with interim service guarantees to protect our members and other dedicated public servants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prandle\u00a0predicted \u201cuproar\u201d among CSPS members if the transfer of administration did not result in improved service levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Steve Thomas, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, said the PAC report\u00a0raised several important questions that the government should answer quickly and transparently to\u00a0retain\u00a0the trust of civil servants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow is it going to deal with remaining members drawing pensions who are affected by the McCloud Remedy; how is it going to ensure adequate customer service; and how is it going to put in place the contract management skills so that the provider is properly held to account and delivers on its obligations?\u201d he asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas said it was \u201csimply unacceptable\u201d that the current provider,\u00a0MyCSP,\u00a0had\u00a0\u201cbeen allowed to tail off its service at the end of the contract with no consequence\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fran Heathcote, general secretary of PCS \u2013 which is the civil service\u2019s biggest union,\u00a0said the report clearly showed that\u00a0privatising\u00a0the pensions administration function\u00a0did not provide value for money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This damning report serves as further proof that the administration of the pension scheme should be staffed by civil servants under direct ministerial control,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cabinet\u00a0Office pensions staff vote to strike\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yesterday, PCS announced that a small number of members working for civil service pensions finance at the Cabinet Office have voted to strike in protest at being\u00a0transfered\u00a0to Capita as part of December\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n
The dispute involves three staff based at Priestley House in Basingstoke, who\u00a0are responsible for\u00a0handling\u00a0critical payment processing, employer liaison, and\u00a0authorisations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The union said that planned industrial\u00a0action could \u201cseverely disrupt\u201d daily pension transactions, including quotes for redundancy and early retirement, and purchase order operations across government departments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
General secretary Heathcote said the Cabinet Office\u2019s decision to\u00a0outsource\u00a0 important\u00a0responsiilities without consultation was a \u201cgigantic kick to the face\u201d to the union members.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese pension finance workers must, like those staff administering the CSPS, be under the direct control of the Cabinet Office as civil servants to ensure proper governance and provide a decent public service,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PCS members at\u00a0MyCSP\u00a0are currently in their 16th week of strike action over the non-recognition of the union in the transfer process to Capita.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This story was updated at 15:40 on 24 October 2025 to include a response from Prospect and at 17:30 on 24 October 2025 to include a comment from PCS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watchdog MPs have raised concerns\u00a0over\u00a0outsourcing giant Capita\u2019s\u00a0readiness\u00a0to take over the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme\u00a0in\u00a0a handover…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-226837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}