Campaign group submits evidence to two Capita probes as pension scheme member turns to food bank

A group set up to support civil service pension scheme (CSPS) members in difficulty has written to MPs and the National Audit Office (NAO) to offer support in ongoing investigations into Capita’s botched scheme administration. Delays in paying pensions has forced at least one former civil servant to use a food bank as many struggle financially. In a letter to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (Pacac), the Civil Service Pensions Campaign group described Capita’s “systemic” failure. The group, which represents thousands of retired civil servants, has also requested that the NAO take direct contributions to its current investigation from group members, who are all members of the CSPS. Capita had a two-year period to prepare for the takeover of the administration of 1.7 million civil servant pensions, but since taking the wheel in December 2025, it has overseen a disaster. Retiring civil servants have seen long delays in being paid their pensions, with some still not in receipt of them despite retiring 10 months ago. About 4,000 emergency loans have been made to struggling members of the scheme, and people have died before receiving what they are owed. ## MPs listening In a submission to MPs on the PAC and the Pacac, the campaign group wrote: “This is a systemic failure. The evidence being reported to the Campaigns Group suggests that these problems can no longer reasonably be characterised as a collection of isolated administrative errors or particularly difficult individual cases.” The campaign group told Computer Weekly: “Various Facebook groups dedicated to sharing [CSPS] experiences reveal the anguish and anger of claimants forced to rely on food banks, reliant on the financial charity of friends and family, and the sadness of postponed retirement plans. “Some claimants have died whilst waiting for payment and bereaved relatives have endured months of contradictory guidance on claiming pensions,” it said. “Others have spent hours every week trying to obtain information from Capita call handlers who don’t appear to have access to the right IT systems and fob off callers with empty claims to “escalate issues”. “Members report problems across virtually every part of the service,” it added. The campaign group said these include longstanding unresolved cases, delayed retirement quotations, delayed pension payments, unresolved bereavement cases and problems with ill-health retirement. Members have also complained of unanswered correspondence, unanswered portal messages, inaccurate and incomplete information, repeated telephone calls producing little progress, ineffective escalation, and limited information available to telephone agents. The group added that MPs are struggling to get “meaningful answers”. “These are not simply administrative delays,” it said. “They have real financial and human consequences.” One pension scheme member recently said they have been forced to use a food bank and take their car off the road. ## Watchdog on the case The NAO announced last week that it will investigate the status of the scheme, transition arrangements at go-live, how Capita has performed, and the impact on member experience. It will also investigate how the Cabinet Office has exercised its responsibilities for oversight of the scheme. The group has written to the government spending watchdog requesting details of how it can contribute. “We ask the NAO to recognise the Campaigns Group as a stakeholder contributing direct member evidence and to agree a consultation process while the investigation is underway,” it said. ### Read more about Capita and the Civil Service Pension Scheme - Oct 2026: NAO to investigate what went wrong in Capita’s civil service pension takeover. - Oct 2025: Capita rubbishes Public Accounts Committee report claims. - Sept 2026: Capita boss gets ‘obscene’ pay packet while retired civil servants need emergency loans. - Sept 2026: Capita doesn’t get to ‘walk away from’ civil service pension mess, says minister. - Sept 2026: UK government to create team to validate Capita’s data on troubled pension scheme. - Sept 2026: UK government views the outsourcer’s overall performance as ‘unacceptable’ after it reports meeting a self-imposed target. - Sept 2026: Government has seen enough of Capita failure and Civil Service Pension Scheme to be moved in-house. - Aug 2026: Capita CEO receives scathing rebuttal from employee over botched contract. - July 2026: PAC raises more questions over Capita’s role in government. - July 2026: Capita to lose money on pension debacle but ‘has government’s private parts in its grip’. - July 2026: Capita civil service pension contract ‘prime candidate’ for insourcing, says government minister. - July 2026: Capita’s rush to hit civil service pension deadline risking errors, say staff. - July 2026: Union calls for insourcing of pension contract as Capita ‘shit show’ goes on. - Jun 2026: Cabinet Office states Capita set to miss Civil Service Pension Scheme deadline. - Jun 2026: Capita went live with its troubled civil service pensions administration without a basic Domain Name System security feature. - May 2026: Ministers refused to sign off £563m Capita contract amid civil service pension disaster. - May 2026: Civil servants to protest at Capita general meeting amid pension crisis. - Apr 2026: Was Capita’s Royal Mail pension contract a botch too far? - Apr 2026: Capita lacked ‘detail and thoroughness’ in planning botched Civil Service Pension Scheme takeover. - Apr 2026: MP committees to double up on Capita’s civil service pension crisis. - Apr 2026: Government should drop Capita from civil service scheme after it loses Royal Mail role, says union. - Apr 2026: Government terminates Capita’s Royal Mail pension contract. - Mar 2026: Capita left to deal with 13,000 civil service pension cases over a year old. - Feb 2026: Thousands of unread emails and 20 million database errors cause civil service pension hardship. - Jan 2026: Troubleshooter steps in as Capita and civil service bosses apologise for pension scheme problems. - Oct 2025: Capita rubbishes Public Accounts Committee report claims.