Capita faced mounting criticism over its handling of the UK Civil Service Pension Scheme after admitting it inherited a far larger backlog of cases than expected. The company said it took on more than 86,000 cases, well above the 37,000 it had anticipated, and by early February the backlog had grown to more than 120,000. The scale of the delays prompted the UK government to launch a recovery plan in February, bringing in 150 government staff and 100 additional Capita workers to focus on urgent cases, alongside an emergency interest-free loan scheme.
During an appearance before the Public Accounts Committee that same month, Capita executives apologised for the failures and pledged to clear urgent and sensitive cases by the end of March. However, the problems continued to deepen. In April, the company issued another apology after a data breach exposed the details of 138 pension members online, raising fresh concerns about its handling of sensitive personal information.
Later that month, Capita’s contract to run the Royal Mail pension scheme was terminated. Paymaster General Nick Symonds said the company had failed to meet critical transition milestones and that there was a lack of confidence in its ability to implement and move to the new operating model on time. He also said Capita’s performance on the civil service pension scheme had fallen far short of the required standard.
Symonds described reports of pension members missing mortgage payments and falling into hardship as distressing and entirely unacceptable. He said no one should have to face such financial anxiety after a lifetime of dedicated public service, underscoring the seriousness of the service failures and their impact on retired and active public servants.
Capita said it was continuing to work with the Cabinet Office to restore normal service levels. The company said additional trained staff remained in place and that its priority was to ensure members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme received the service they expected and deserved. It added that it was sorry for the worry and frustration caused by the delays.
The episode has placed Capita under intense scrutiny over both operational failures and data protection issues, with the government stepping in to support affected pension processing while expressing frustration at the company’s performance. The case has also highlighted the consequences of large-scale administrative backlogs for public sector pension members, some of whom have reported serious financial stress as a result of delayed payments and unresolved cases.
