Capita has issued an apology for the ‘challenges’ members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) are experiencing following its appointment as administrator of the scheme.

Administration of the CSPS was taken over by Capita from MyCSP on 1 December 2025, with a new online pension portal launched to allow members to access and manage their pension information.

However, members reported difficulties with the portal, including login failures, broken links, and incomplete pages, with Microsoft drafted in to help stabilise the portal.

Despite this, concerns persisted, with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) identifying issues, such as data mapping problems during the transfer from MyCSP to Capita, resulting in validation failures and defects within the new system.

In an update, Capita said it was sorry for any delays and frustrations members were experiencing and outlined how it planned to resolve the issues.

“As part of the transition, we inherited a significant volume of outstanding work from the previous provider, including a backlog of 86,000 work in progress cases,” Capita stated.

“As a result of this there have been serious issues affecting members’ ability to access some services, including delays to pension quotes and payments for newly retired members, long waits on customer service calls, and difficulties accessing the portal. 

“We are doing everything we can to reduce this backlog and resume normal service levels, and are working closely with the Cabinet Office and HMRC, to resolve these issues as a matter of urgency.”

The administrator said it was increasing capacity, with over 500 staff working on CSPS, and it would increase resources across January and February to handle more cases and provide better response times.

It was also introducing new tools and features over the coming months to give members access to services such as Track My Case and Retire Online.

Capita noted that it was prioritising cases where there are bereavements, members going into retirement, and hardship situations.

“We expect to restore service levels for the most urgent cases by the end of February, before full recovery of the remaining priority cases,” Capita said.

“As we work through longstanding cases, members are likely to experience slower response times. 

“We know that delays are worrying for members. We take this responsibility and each case very seriously and are working closely with the Cabinet Office and HMRC to deliver the standard of service that members rightly expect, and we will continue to provide clear, timely updates as our work progresses.

“Once again, we sincerely apologise to those experiencing difficulties and are very grateful for your patience.”

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