Question
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement and for the briefing last week. Since the last ministerial statement in July, Capita is reported to have met its own September target on priority cases, but as the Minister has said, that does not match lived experience and hon. Members have heard promises of improvement before. Capita missed both its April and June targets, and months later it is being propped up by a Cabinet Office taskforce. I welcome the news from the Minister that Capita is improving its technology, and I am glad that it has been deploying additional resources to support improvements to its dashboard so that it can get through more cases. Time will show us if that work actually results in Capita working through its backlog—there are still too many people across the country waiting. My constituent, Diane, who lives in Offerton, applied for retirement at the end of August last year. She finally received her formal quote this month—a full 14 months after applying. It was a whopping £14,000 less than she was informally quoted, which may well have changed her decision to retire had the quote been received in a reasonable timeframe. There are 1.7 million current and former civil servants who simply want to know that their pension will be handled competently, fairly and with dignity. I heard the Minister’s statement on holding Capita to account, but will she say, in terms that our constituents will relate to, exactly how she is planning to do that and what the impact will be on families around the country? I note the Minister’s comment on debarment, but, given the absolute shambles Capita has made of this situation, can she truly say that she would be happy for it to bid for future Government contracts? Will the Government finally commit to inflation-linking payments for all outstanding cases in order to ensure that those affected by Capita’s mistakes do not pay even more for Capita’s delays?
Answer
I am sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Lady’s constituent, Diane. It is just one of many, many cases that we have heard about where the outcome is totally unacceptable. The Chief Whip was on the phone to me this morning about her constituent, Lisa, who is also facing similar problems in getting anything out of Capita. The hon. Lady asked what I am doing to make sure that Capita lives up to its promises on the most recent rectification plan. As I said, Cabinet Office officials are now in the Capita systems every single day, which has given us the ability to challenge the organisation in a way that we have not been able to do before. If we do not start to see progress each fortnight, as we publish those results, I will have the Capita CEO back in and I will continue to hold Capita’s feet to the fire. All options remain on the table contractually. It is in Capita’s interest, frankly, to pull its socks up and do a better job. On debarment, I really cannot comment on anyone that may or may not be subject to consideration or investigation under the Procurement Act. However, I think that most hon. Members would recognise that Capita has done a pretty poor job. It is not its first rodeo either—I will leave that there. I will take away the hon. Lady’s point about inflation-linking and write to her, and I am happy to meet her to discuss it further.21% point-scoring
Verdict: AMBER (34/100) DEFERRED
The reply gives a clear, direct account of the accountability measures: Cabinet Office officials are working inside Capita's systems, progress will be published fortnightly, and contractual options remain open. It does not say what impact the Government expects its actions to have on families across the country. On whether Capita should be allowed to bid, the minister declines to comment, citing the Procurement Act. On inflation-linking for outstanding cases, the minister only promises to write later, so the question is effectively deferred. A member of the public would likely need to ask again on these points.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the Government plans to hold Capita to account for its handling of civil service pensions cases. | Addressed | Direct | The reply sets out concrete accountability mechanisms: Cabinet Office officials now work in Capita's systems daily, progress is published fortnightly with the Capita CEO to be recalled if it stalls, and contractual options remain available. |
| What impact the Government expects its action to hold Capita to account to have on families across the country. | Not Addressed | Generic | The reply describes the outcomes for individual cases as unacceptable and sets out fortnightly progress checks, but never states what impact the Government expects its actions to have on families across the country. |
| Whether the Government would be happy for Capita to bid for future Government contracts. | Addressed | Direct | The minister declines to comment on whether Capita is subject to consideration or investigation under the Procurement Act, which gives a stated reason for not answering whether Capita should bid, and notes that all contractual options remain open. |
| Whether the Government will commit to inflation-linking payments for all outstanding civil service pension cases. | Deferred | Hedged | The minister says they will take away the point on inflation-linking and write to the Member, so the substantive commitment is deferred and no position on inflation-linking for all outstanding cases is stated. |