In response to the volume of telephone complaints to the CSPA office from members about difficulties in contacting the new Civil Service pensions administrator Capita, we have written directly to the Cabinet Office and separately to Capita detailing the concerns raised by members.
Common complaints reported to CSPA include:
- Excessive long waiting times, sometimes over 3 hours, with some calls being cut off while in the queue, and no information regarding anticipated waiting ;
- Difficulties in setting up portal access through the civil service pensions website, and insufficient support when access is locked out after numerous attempts;
- Members retiring or partially retiring have faced long delays with no information and no payments causing distress and financial worries;
- Some members have reported missed pension payments or delayed payments over the Christmas period, causing financial problems;
- Lack of response to pension requests and partial retirement pension applications that were in process before the transition to Capita from 1 December 2025
CSPA has established contacts with the senior Capita team and are seeking a follow up meeting to go through member’s concerns.
We have also raised the concerns with the Deputy Director of Pensions at the Cabinet Office who have responsibility for service delivery of pensions and the management of the contract with Capita.
CSPA General Secretary Sally Tsoukaris and Pensions Manager David Luxton have a meeting scheduled with the Cabinet Office pensions team next week, on 20 January, and will report back following that meeting.
