From Angela MacDonald, Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC
I'm writing to give you a direct update on the work being done to resolve the current service issues with Civil Service Pensions. I'm leading the Civil Service Pensions Taskforce and working alongside the scheme administrators, Capita, to put things right as soon as possible.
I want to reassure you that you have many people advocating for you, including your MPs, Trade Unions and your current or former departments. I know how serious this situation is, and how worrying this must be to hear that it will take some time to get the service back to where it should be.
Firstly, and most importantly, your pension is safe. All data has transferred across from MyCSP to Capita. Capita is carefully checking this data so that it is integrated correctly, including linking your pension when you have had more than one period of service.
I am committed to providing you with clear, factual, and regular updates. At this stage, we expect the service will be fully restored by the end of June. Earlier this week, we published a pensions recovery plan update on gov.uk which includes details on the work that we are prioritising now. I commit to communicating every two weeks with more information as we progress through the outstanding work, telling you what we are focusing on and when you can expect to see improvements.
Right now, we are prioritising cases where there is a risk of immediate financial harm – including death in service, ill-health retirements and hardship loans. This means some of you may have to wait a little longer for your issue to be resolved. I know how frustrating this is, but it's vital that we focus on people with the greatest need first.
Your department has shared information about what to do if you’re experiencing hardship due to delayed pension payments. If you’re already retired, have left the Civil Service or are a dependant, information on how to receive hardship support can be found on the Civil Service Pensions website.
We are coordinating closely with departments to make sure you receive information directly. For those of you who are already retired or no longer connected to a government department, we will publish updates on the Civil Service Pensions website, so everyone can access the same information.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work towards bringing the pension service back to the standard you deserve.
Angela MacDonald
Second Permanent Secretary, HMRC
Civil Service Pensions progress update
1. Backlog of cases
Capita inherited a large volume of outstanding work when the service transferred in December. Some of the cases go back many months. The term ‘cases’ refers to several categories including general queries, from reporting a change in marital status to updating your address, and are not all necessarily queries that would result in payment.
What's been done:
The number of inherited cases has reduced from c86,000 on 1 December 2025 to c56,000 on 9 February 2026.
c123,000 new cases have been received since 1 December 2025; c71,000 have been completed.
Priority has been given to death in service and ill health retirements, and we will resolve all these cases by the end of February.
Over 2,000 new pensions have been put into payment since 1 December. For around 7,500 members, if you have submitted your forms and have received your pension quote you will receive your lump sum by the end of February. More information will follow on the payment of regular pensions and back payments in future updates.
We will be paying interest on delayed sums.
2. Portal access issues and missing data
Some of you have experienced login issues and incomplete information on the new pension portal.
What's been done:
16,000 members were locked out of their accounts and have been emailed with details on how to reset these; 13,000 have successfully done this.
122,000 of you with multiple periods of service can’t currently register on the portal. A fix will be in place by the end of February to allow you to access the portal.
Track My Case will be available on the portal by the end of February which will allow you track the progress of your case. We will also be sharing information on the dates being worked on so you can understand the likely wait.
Annual Benefits Statements for 2024/25 will be uploaded by the end of February for around 300,000 members of the alpha scheme. Annual Benefits Statements for all other members will be uploaded as soon as possible. Previous years will follow.
3. Contacting Civil Service Pensions
Online
The best way to contact Capita is via the ‘Contact Us’ form on the Civil Service Pensions website. Forms are scanned immediately using an AI tool and placed in the queue in order of urgency.
We are looking at what information we can make easier to find on our website to avoid you having to contact us with questions where information is already available.
A new web chat service will be going live later this month to answer some of your more straightforward queries.
Phone
The number of calls we are receiving is reducing but we know that many of you continue to wait far too long to speak to an adviser. The average wait time for some callers is about 2 hours.
However, we are prioritising those who are in most urgent need. As a result:
Additional helpline advisers will be joining to improve response times and Capita aims for 80% of all calls to be answered within 30 seconds by the end of February.
Please avoid calling Capita unless it is essential, so we can focus resources on urgent cases.
What's next?
Thank you for your continued patience as Capita works to improve the service.
Our next update will include:
Progress on the retirement modeller
How we are tackling the email backlog
Our plan to provide quotations for people who wish to retire but have not yet received a requested quote
