Question
I have been contacted by constituents whose complaints Capita has closed without resolution and whose pension quotes have disappeared. I heard the Minister say that old cases will not be allowed to sit in backlogs without progress, but my constituent, who served 43 years in the Department for Work and Pensions, alleges that this is an example of Capita manipulating closure figures. Will the Minister say how the Government are monitoring Capita to ensure that complaints are closed only once they have been resolved and that quotes do not disappear?
Answer
I myself was not confident in the numbers previously given by Capita, as I said to its face after 1 September, when it claimed to have met its self-imposed deadline, which did not reflect the experience of scheme members. We have today heard about cases that should have been resolved by that deadline, but which clearly were not. I agree that Capita has been, let us say, flaky with the truth on the reality of the numbers. The difference now is that Cabinet Office officials have access to those systems; they can go in, see for themselves exactly what is going on, verify the numbers and figures that Capita is providing and report back on that. The transparency of the new fortnightly updates means that we will be able to see those cases in all their glory and see whether or not the figures are coming down.14% point-scoring
Verdict: AMBER (38/100)
The reply is direct and gives some concrete information: Cabinet Office officials now have access to Capita's systems to verify figures, and fortnightly updates will show whether case numbers are falling. However, it does not explain how case closures are checked against actual resolution, so the core of the question is only partly answered. It also says nothing about pension quotes disappearing, so the person who asked would likely need to follow up for those specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the Government is monitoring Capita to ensure that complaints are closed only once they have been resolved and that pension quotes do not disappear. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply names concrete monitoring mechanisms: Cabinet Office officials now have access to Capita's systems to verify figures, and fortnightly updates will show whether case numbers are falling. However, it never says how closure is checked against actual resolution, and it does not mention pension quotes disappearing at all. |