“There could be more than 10,000 cases where pension quotes were requested during the latter months of 2025 and were never processed.”
From the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
MPs have been making further inquiries into the crisis in pensions administration, which has emerged since the transfer from MyCSP to Capita, with civil service chief operating officer, Cat Little, appearing before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) this week.
PCS welcomes the support given by Clive Betts MP, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, who was invited to join members of PACAC to hear the evidence of Cat Little and task force leader, Angela MacDonald. Clive’s comments on BBC Moneybox this week, favouring in-sourcing pension administration, echoed the call made by our national president, Martin Cavannah, on the programme the previous week. At PACAC, Clive asked whether there should be an in-house public sector provision option when contracts of this kind are re-tendered, and the answer was a clear yes.
The high volume of calls to PCS from members who are retiring continues despite the increased output of payments by Capita. At our weekly meeting with the Cabinet Office, Angela MacDonald set out aspects of the plan to stabilise the pension scheme’s administration. There has been an increase in payments of lump sums and advances against first month pension, but these are finalisations which should have been made in December, along with payments which should have been made by MyCSP. Despite the intervention ordered by the government, it is clear that stabilisation will take a long time.
Unprocessed pension quotes
There could be more than 10,000 cases where pension quotes were requested during the latter months of 2025 and were never processed. The number is possibly inflated by a workaround which encouraged members who were only seeking information to request a pension quote, but we know that the majority will be people due to retire now and in the coming weeks. They will have given months of notice only to find out their applications have not progressed at all. Some members have received letters asking them if they still wish to retire or if they wish to change their retirement date. Once the quotes are accepted, the expected time before payment is at least a further three months.
One member said: “I can’t believe the letter I got from Capita. I applied to retire in November, and in March I’m asked if I still wish to retire.”
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- This was originally published on the PCS website on 3 March 2026.
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