From Richard Vianello, Director, Civil Service Pensions 

3 September 2026

As I mentioned in my last update, we continue to support Capita with some of the more complex quotes. Capita has now shared details of 50 of the oldest bereavement cases that are over 150 days old for the DWP surge team to investigate. Those affected members and families may be asked to resupply information or confirm circumstances as part of the surge team needing to start at the beginning with their investigations, and I apologise in advance where this is the case.

When the surge team has everything in order to calculate benefits, they will then pass the information to Capita for processing, finalisation of paperwork, and payments to be set up. Once these cases are resolved, the team will then methodically work through the next set of cases that are over 150 days (as supplied by Capita).

I also committed to giving you regular updates on cases that were over 100 days old; please see below. All data quoted has been supplied by Capita:

Case type over 100 days old	Total number of affected numbers	Workable, and to be paid within 15 days	Currently ‘non workable’ and require additional information from a third party
Bereavement	1,069	266	803
Death in Service	308	41	267
Ill Health Retirements	12	1	11
Payments	288	66	222

Retirement quotes

Some of you have been asking for clarification of Capita’s position with retirement quotes. At the end of June, Capita had c4,000 quotations remaining in the backlog; c1,500 of these were ‘complex’. Capita committed to clearing the backlog within six weeks, and 3,087 quotes were issued by the end of August. I have asked for an update on the remaining c900 quotes and will share the timescales for clearing these with you in my next update.

Capita has committed to issuing quotes within six weeks of receipt. We continue to work with Capita to assure their performance.

Arrears tax

For those with pension arrears, a reminder that on 21 May we published a factsheet from HMRC colleagues to help members with pension arrears, which includes an example letter should you need to write to HMRC. The factsheet also contains important  information about what will happen if the pension arrears move you into a higher tax band this financial year.

2025/26 Annual Benefit Statements

In previous years, the upload of Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) has taken place over a longer period. This year, Capita chose a shortened timeframe, and this unfortunately has led to a surge in increased website and Member Portal traffic. This is leading to difficulties registering or signing into the Member Portal and viewing or downloading ABS. While this was planned for as a specific risk given the expected high volumes of queries, we know that many members are still getting error messages or the Member Portal is timing out. Capita has recognised the issues here; improving the Member Portal performance has been escalated as the highest priority technical issue, and Capita is working urgently to ensure all users can sign in as required.

Approximately 498,000 new-look 2025/26 Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) have been loaded onto the Member Portal. If you have registered for an account, you will have been notified by email. If you have not registered, then over the coming days or weeks, please create an account using a personal email address to view and download your 2025/26 ABS. If your ABS is not yet on the Member Portal, a further c78,000 ABS will be loaded gradually later this month and in October. Capita is working on these and will update the website as the situation evolves. Please go to the ABS hub on the Civil Service Pension Scheme website for further information.

Richard Vianello

Director, Civil Service Pensions

CSPA View

The latest Civil Service Pensions Taskforce update suggests some progress, but it remains difficult to judge whether the service is experiencing a meaningful recovery. While CSPA has seen some long-standing pension cases resolved recently, which is welcome news, others remain escalated to the Cabinet Office and Capita.

One of the main difficulties in assessing progress is the lack of consistent reporting. Successive Taskforce updates have used different measures, including total caseloads, backlogs, cases over four months old, cases over 100 days old, and cases awaiting information from third parties. As a result, figures cannot easily be compared over time.

Apparent improvements or deteriorations may reflect changes in reporting rather than genuine performance trends. For example, bereavement cases were reported as 4,750 in one update and over 13,000 in another before later updates focused only on cases over 100 days old. Retirement quote backlogs are often highlighted as improving, but without consistent data on new cases, completed cases and outstanding work, the scale of recovery remains unclear. Recent updates provide a more detailed breakdown of older cases, but do not show the wider scope of the issues.

Whilst increased oversight through independent advisers, auditors and HMRC surge team support are welcomed, stronger governance alone is not evidence that backlogs have been cleared or that service standards have returned to acceptable levels.

Overall, the updates indicate significant activity, but the lack of consistent performance measures makes it difficult to determine objectively whether recovery is improving, stagnating or deteriorating. Until the same measures are reported consistently over time, the true pace of recovery will remain unclear.

At CSPA, our priority remains supporting members and ensuring their concerns are heard. We continue to meet weekly with Cabinet Office officials to raise individual cases, challenge delays and press for faster resolutions.

Behind these figures are thousands of people facing uncertainty in retirement, as well as bereaved families waiting for pension benefits and the financial security they are entitled to. These delays continue to cause significant distress at an already difficult time. CSPA will continue to press for urgent action to ensure members and their families receive the service, support and payments they deserve.

Taskforce Update #16 can be found at: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/kbarticle/?id=KA-01380