The Cabinet Office has issued a further update on the Civil Service Pension Scheme recovery work ahead of the end of June deadline for improving administration services following the transfer to Capita.
In the update, Angela MacDonald, Second Permanent Secretary and lead for the Civil Service Pensions Taskforce, said that recovery work will continue beyond the end of June and that the focus remains on ensuring members receive the pension benefits they are entitled to.
The latest figures show that progress is being made in some areas, but a significant amount of work remains.
Retirement quotations
One of the main concerns for members has been delays in receiving retirement quotations.
According to the Cabinet Office update, around 6,500 quotations for past retirement dates remained outstanding at the time of the report. A large number of quotations have been issued recently, with around half of the remaining cases relating to partial retirement.
The Cabinet Office said it expects many of these partial retirement cases to be cleared shortly, but also acknowledged that some more complex cases require additional information from employers before they can be completed.
Members waiting for quotations are reminded that large volumes are still being issued and that postal delivery times may mean letters take several days to arrive.
Pension payments and arrears
The update states that 377 retirement cases, where completed paperwork was returned before 30 May, were still waiting to be put into payment, with Capita aiming to complete these by the end of June.
For future retirements, Capita expects that completed quotation paperwork returned going forward should be processed within 10 working days, with lump sum payments potentially following in July and first pension payments in August or September where appropriate.
The Cabinet Office also highlighted that some members receiving arrears may receive payments before their finalisation letters arrive, and advised members to check their statements before raising queries.
Other outstanding areas
The update also covers several areas where members continue to experience delays:
- Bereavements: thousands of cases remain dependent on families returning information needed to process benefits.
- Ill health retirement and death in service cases: older cases continue to be tracked individually.
- 2015 Remedy (McCloud): some members already receiving pensions are still waiting for further information, with the Cabinet Office acknowledging that work will continue for some months.
- Transfers and related services: some transfer-related services remain paused while new calculation factors are introduced.
- Retirement modeller: there is still no confirmed date for the return of the interactive retirement modelling tool.
What does this mean for the June deadline?
In our recent article, David Luxton, CSPA Pensions Manager, looked at whether Capita’s end of June recovery targets were realistic.
The latest update suggests that improvements are being made, particularly in reducing some backlogs, but it also confirms that not all issues will be resolved by the end of June.
The Cabinet Office has been clear that recovery work will continue beyond this point. The important measure will not only be the number of cases processed, but whether members begin to experience a reliable service and receive the information and payments they need.
For many members, especially those waiting for retirement payments, bereavement cases and long-standing unresolved issues, the impact continues. We remain particularly concerned about the number of outstanding bereavement cases and the distress this is causing families who are waiting for pension benefits to be resolved.
CSPA continues to support members affected by these issues and is raising individual cases and wider concerns directly with the Cabinet Office through regular meetings. We will continue to highlight where progress is needed and push for members to receive the service and support they are entitled to.
Read update in full: Cabinet Office Civil Service Pension Scheme Taskforce Update #10, 25 June 2026.
