MyCSP

ali_bear

Not sure if this would make a difference, but you could write to your MP about it. 

horsewithnoname

Muna Rowe is the relevant minister.

when CS pensions were in house they were much better but since farming them out to the cheapest private sector offering, there service is rubbish and the people on the phones are not trained and so cannot answer more than the most basic questions. 

But private companies do what they are paid to do, and knocking the civil service is politically popular so no one cares if the pension service is totally inadequate. 

hugheskevi

horsewithnoname said:

Muna Rowe is the relevant minister.

when CS pensions were in house they were much better but since farming them out to the cheapest private sector offering, there service is rubbish and the people on the phones are not trained and so cannot answer more than the most basic questions. 

But private companies do what they are paid to do, and knocking the civil service is politically popular so no one cares if the pension service is totally inadequate. 

Muna Rowe is a Civil Servant. 

The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Civil Service pension scheme, a list of Cabinet Office ministers is at this link.

GunJack

I remember the early 2000's when Capita ran the service...I'm sure I remember the service being ok, and even back then a half decent web portal. 

I just hope the transition is completed and the service running ok by the time I need to claim mine in 2.5 years time 🙂

m_c_s

"Cabinet office must improve customer experience in civil service pension scheme" - NAO 16 June 2025

It is not looking encouraging so far with the transition to Capita and MyCSP shown to deliver poor recent performance. And the Cabinet Office is also criticised.

An NAO investigation was prompted by correspondence received from scheme members with concerns about the service they had received, coupled with a reported rise in the level of complaints about the Scheme, which had risen to 4,780 in 2024-25. - seems complaining does help after all 

NAO released their investigation report today on customer experience in civil service pension scheme:
Summary:
https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/cabinet-office-must-improve-customer-experience-in-civil-service-pension-scheme/#:~:text=Capita%20is%20set%20to%20take,9.6m%20in%20transition%20payments.

Detailed report:

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/investigation-into-the-administration-of-the-civil-service-pension-scheme.pdf

A few summary points:

"Cabinet Office has been unable to hold the current pension scheme administrator, MyCSP, accountable for when performance has fallen below agreed service levels or incentivise improvements through its contract."

Complaints against MyCSP are at their highest level since at least 2016-17, increasing by 43% between 2016-17 and 2024-25. 

MyCSP’s contact centre performance has been below expected levels for at least the last two years, but this has not resulted in any contractual penalties. In November 2024, MyCSP was taking an average of 24 minutes to answer calls.

MyCSP’s failure to meet agreed key service levels has not attracted significant financial penalties to date.

MyCSP does seem to have made better progress with applying the McCloud judgment than other public pension schemes but it looks like the bar was re-set low after it was recognised that MyCSP was not going to meet the original statutory deadline.  - makes me shudder to think what is happening in those other pension schemes then.

"In 2024, MyCSP failed to provide timely retirement quotes and first pension payments, including lump sums, to scheme members for several months. As a result, Cabinet Office expects MyCSP to pay a financial penalty of £228,538. Cabinet Office does not believe it has successfully claimed any other financial penalties from MyCSP." - "believe" - does it not know? and how is this allowed to happen?

"Cabinet Office told us (NAO) that it believes the failures in 2024 against service levels could be in part attributed to MyCSP operating with reduced staff since the announcement of the new contract to Capita in December 2023." - who would have guessed this would happen - not the Cabinet Office!!!!!

"Capita has missed three key milestones in the transition to taking on the administration of the Scheme from 1 December 2025. Cabinet Office is working with Capita to ensure it is ready to take over from MyCSP, but has withheld £9.6 million in transition payments, due to Capita failing to meet all agreed deliverables associated with milestones around the design and development phase and user readiness. Delays to meeting these milestones have led Cabinet Office to agree a reduction in the service originally expected to be available to members from December 2025. To de-risk delivery, Capita now intends to start operating a simplified IT solution in December 2025, delaying the expected greater functionality for both scheme members and employers until at least March 2026." - even the transition now seems to be in trouble - another IT issue, what could go wrong!!!!

Finally (I am amazed that such contracts exist) - "Penalties are dependent on MyCSP’s profitability levels and any extenuating circumstances MyCSP flag that can result in the penalty being waived."

LHW99

GunJack said:

I remember the early 2000's when Capita ran the service...I'm sure I remember the service being ok, and even back then a half decent web portal. 

I just hope the transition is completed and the service running ok by the time I need to claim mine in 2.5 years time 🙂

Hmm I seem to remember Capita earning itself a moderately rude nickname sometime back then

OldBeanz

LHW99 said:

GunJack said:

I remember the early 2000's when Capita ran the service...I'm sure I remember the service being ok, and even back then a half decent web portal. 

I just hope the transition is completed and the service running ok by the time I need to claim mine in 2.5 years time 🙂

Hmm I seem to remember Capita earning itself a moderately rude nickname sometime back then

Do you think Capita has been selected for offering to provide the best service or for providing the cheapest quote
 

m_c_s

Do you think Capita has been selected for offering to provide the best service or for providing the cheapest quote
 

The Cabinet Office are expecting Capita to identify and deliver new innovations in how the service is delivered, with the agreed contract price representing savings of £83 million over the lifecycle of the contract compared with the current MyCSP contract price. The original MyCSP contract was worth £239 million so that is a massive difference and probably indicates an intention to automate many processes with reduced staffing and reliance on AI. Wait a few years and Capita will probably ask to renegotiate the contract or threaten to leave or ask for changes in KPIs.

GunJack

LHW99 said:

GunJack said:

I remember the early 2000's when Capita ran the service...I'm sure I remember the service being ok, and even back then a half decent web portal. 

I just hope the transition is completed and the service running ok by the time I need to claim mine in 2.5 years time 🙂

Hmm I seem to remember Capita earning itself a moderately rude nickname sometime back then

Indeed they did, but my recollection was not clouded by trying to claim my pension back then 😉

LHW99

m_c_s said:

Do you think Capita has been selected for offering to provide the best service or for providing the cheapest quote
 

The Cabinet Office are expecting Capita to identify and deliver new innovations in how the service is delivered, with the agreed contract price representing savings of £83 million over the lifecycle of the contract compared with the current MyCSP contract price. The original MyCSP contract was worth £239 million so that is a massive difference and probably indicates an intention to automate many processes with reduced staffing and reliance on AI. Wait a few years and Capita will probably ask to renegotiate the contract or threaten to leave or ask for changes in KPIs.

Let's hope the AI manages to be better than the many poor chatbots currently employed to provide customer "service" on websites!