Capita is set to miss a government deadline to restore Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) administration services to contractual standards, prompting renewed criticism from the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

The Cabinet Office has told PCS that Capita will not meet the ministerial deadline of 30 June 2026, despite assurances earlier this year that services would be returned to full contractual performance by that date.

In April, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said Capita was expected to be delivering the full terms of its £239m contract by no later than 30 June.

However, PCS said it has now been informed that the service fail to meet contractual standards by the deadline and the recovery operation established to support the contractor will also need to continue beyond June.

According to the union, around 150 HM Revenue & Customs staff, led by a senior civil servant, will remain involved in efforts to clear backlogs and support core pension administration functions.

The latest development comes after a prolonged period of difficulties within the CSPS administration service, which have left members facing delays in processing retirement claims, bereavement cases and other pension transactions.

Capita was awarded a six-year contract worth up to £239m in 2023 to administer the CSPS, replacing MyCSP as scheme administrator.

The transition subsequently encountered significant challenges, leading to growing backlogs, service failures and widespread concern among scheme members.

The Cabinet Office previously introduced a recovery plan and financial penalties for Capita after performance fell below agreed standards, while ministers have repeatedly faced parliamentary scrutiny over delays affecting scheme members.

PCS said critical cases, including bereavement and ill-health retirements, were originally due to be resolved by February 2026, but remain subject to active escalation four months later.

The union also highlighted the scale of member concern, claiming that 607 MPs have received correspondence from constituents regarding the issue, with more than 3,134 emails sent in total.

Commenting on the latest delay, PCS general secretary, Fran Heathcote, said: “This is beyond disappointing, but I can’t say it’s surprising. Capita has missed deadline after deadline, yet civil servants and pension scheme members continue to pay the price for those failures.

“Minor financial penalties mean little, when you look at the size of the contracts they’ve been rewarded. They're certainly no comfort if you're facing financial hardship because you've retired and your pension hasn't been paid.

“Behind every delayed case is a real person dealing with uncertainty, stress and financial worry.

“How much more evidence does the government need? Capita has failed to restore confidence in this service. Ministers must now take immediate steps to bring the administration of the CSPS back into the Civil Service.”

In response, Capita referred Pensions Age to its latest letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), published on 5 June.

The letter states that Capita is "committed to achieving the service recovery plan agreed with the Cabinet Office by the end of June and remains on trajectory to achieve this."

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