New Capita-run Civil Service Pension Scheme - problems (what a surprise!)

Logan72

Contacted my MP last night and got a reply today.  Simple contact form via their website.  Please do this everyone.

daisy_1571

If you are phoning capita - be aware their phone lines close at 6

I couldn't find the hours listed on the website so after hanging on over 2 hours and getting to position 3, at 6 o clock i got a nice message phone line now closed, apologies we didn't answer you but thank you for your call.  

Thank you for my call ?  !!!!!!!  It benefitted no one for me to sit listening to that awful music and not get answered.  Thank you for my call? Like id done them a favour phoning?   I'm slightly peeved to say the least! 

Yorkie1

My latest union message about this is that if you are in real difficulties and in a union, the union may be able to "assist urgent cases in the most effective ways we can in these difficult circumstances".

Informally, I understand that MyCSP basically left Capita with a 3+ month backlog of work ... 

horsewithnoname

Yorkie1 said:

My latest union message about this is that if you are in real difficulties and in a union, the union may be able to "assist urgent cases in the most effective ways we can in these difficult circumstances".

Informally, I understand that MyCSP basically left Capita with a 3+ month backlog of work ... 

the MyCsp staff were not being treated fairly, so did the only thing open to them and went on strike. Don’t blame the staff for the poor behaviour of the company. Capita were in no way ready to take over, and since December the arrears have more or less doubled. The cabinet office should never have allowed capita to take over in the state they were in. 

Write to your MP, after all, the government is ultimately responsible for this atrocious situation. Capita are doing it cheaper, but there is a difference between cheap and value. 

QrizB

The story has made the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9jkdx1gp8o

Some former state employees across the country have been left with no income this month after the company managing civil service pensions failed to pay them.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme, which manages the pensions of 1.7 million public sector workers in the UK, has been unable to provide lump sums or regular payments to many people since Capita took over administration of the scheme in December.
Capita said it had been left with a much bigger backlog of cases than originally agreed and apologised to those affected.

Full article at the link.

m_c_s

QrizB said:

The story has made the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9jkdx1gp8o

Some former state employees across the country have been left with no income this month after the company managing civil service pensions failed to pay them.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme, which manages the pensions of 1.7 million public sector workers in the UK, has been unable to provide lump sums or regular payments to many people since Capita took over administration of the scheme in December.
Capita said it had been left with a much bigger backlog of cases than originally agreed and apologised to those affected.

Full article at the link.

The BBC cannot even be bothered to report the whole story, they ofcourse omit a key piece, namely the 6 month strike in the Summer that caused most of the huge backlog of cases. Some people still use the BBC solely for their news source but they regularly fail to mention key facts.
No one comes out of this sorry episode looking good; not MyCSP, Capita, the Unions or the Cabinet Office. It's just a shambles.

ali_bear

A quick search on BBC News website shows the most recent article about MyCSP was back in 2016. 

So, what was the root of the problem there? And what was the reason for many of the staff being on strike before it was stripped of the CSP contract? 

JoeCrystal

Came across this: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/888/report.html

Apparently, Capita is expected to run this with even less staff than MyCSP for this particular scheme. Bear in mind that MyCSP is actually majority owned by Equiniti since 2018.

I did note that Teachers’ Pension Scheme after 27 years (ran by Capita) is going to be handed over to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is going to become the new administrator of TPS by this summer 2026.

One hope that particular switchover will be better.... managed!

m_c_s

ali_bear said:

A quick search on BBC News website shows the most recent article about MyCSP was back in 2016. 

So, what was the root of the problem there? And what was the reason for many of the staff being on strike before it was stripped of the CSP contract? 

The strike last Summer was to do with Union recognition and TUPE arrangements in MyCSP.
Capita did immediately recognise the PCS Union when they took over the contract in November\December.
I do not know why MyCSP management never agreed to Union representation either through voluntary or statutory arrangement. 

QrizB

m_c_s said:

The BBC cannot even be bothered to report the whole story, they ofcourse omit a key piece, namely the 6 month strike in the Summer that caused most of the huge backlog of cases.

Strikes are the result of management failure. So if that's a key piece, it took can be laid at the feet of MyCSP.