Union says outsourcer will miss June 30 target after portal meltdown and mounting complaints
A union representing UK civil servants claims Capita is set to miss the terms of its £239 million contract to run a government pension scheme following a disastrous launch late last year.The tech outsourcing company's leadership had promised that using Microsoft's AI would improve the service, but the investment has yet to help it reach the terms of its contract with the Cabinet Office. Service levels following the move to Capita have been unacceptable
In a statement, the PCS union said the Cabinet Office confirmed that Capita would miss the ministerial deadline of June 30 to restore pension administration services to contractual standards, which it dubbed an unacceptable failure.
The Register has contacted Capita for a response.A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "The service levels following the move to Capita have been unacceptable. An urgent recovery plan is underway, and our immediate priority is to stabilise service levels and give current and former Civil Servants the service they deserve."To this end, the Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds set a deadline of the end of June for significant progress to have been made in this area, and we will assess the situation at the end of the month."We will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver for both members and taxpayers."The government is understood to be investigating the respective liabilities of both Capita and MyCSP – the previous provider – for these failures in the launch and handover of the service. The Reg first disclosed that the portal for the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) – which supports 1.5 million current and former public servants – appeared to be incomplete and barely functional when it launched in December. Users were forced to create new accounts, which went unrecognized, and they endured broken and circular links while the website appeared unfinished and untested, with headers and other features displaying dummy text.
