Written questions by Johnson.

If he will publish the assessment criteria the Department uses to determine whether the supplier of externally-contracted services has been responsible for a critical performance failure in delivering its contractual commitments.

The Cabinet Office does not utilise a single, universal set of assessment criteria for determining whether a supplier is responsible for a critical performance failure. Instead, specific criteria are defined within each individual contract, generally aligning with the standard definitions in the Model Services Contract.The Cabinet Office remains committed to promoting high standards of supplier performance and compliance with all relevant procurement legislation.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of Capita in delivering and administering the civil service pension scheme.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The issues and delays facing some civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable. Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive at HMRC, is working with the Cabinet Office and Capita to lead and support delivery of a full recovery plan. This includes commitments, with milestones, to immediately deal with priority cases, restore service levels and improve communication with affected members. Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract. The contract includes key performance indicators that, if not met, include financial penalties. These have already been applied in respect of Capita’s performance in December. The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.

What consideration he has given to the role of post offices in (a) onboarding and (b) supporting people who suffer from (i) identity and (ii) digital exclusion during the roll out of the digital identity scheme.

The new digital ID will be designed to be inclusive. We will launch a public consultation and have already started to engage with a range of expert organisations and community groups. We will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to ensure everyone eligible is able to access this new digital ID and benefit from it. We are considering options like a digitally enabled physical alternative for those without access to technology, as well as in-person onboarding support for those who struggle to engage digitally, such as post offices, and a dedicated case working function for those who may struggle to initially prove their identity and access the system.

How many (a) unallocated cases and queries, (b) cases and queries allocated but not yet in progress and (c) cases and queries in progress but not yet completed being dealt with by the Civil Service Pension Scheme administrator, MyCSP Ltd. were still in progress as of 1October 2025.

MyCSP; the Civil Service pension scheme administrator, does not record the data in the format requested. It reports to the Cabinet Office on a monthly basis. 85,503 new work items were received for the month of September. A work item reflects an individual piece of work or task. There are 67,540 outstanding items - 13,783 cases awaiting a response and 53,757 items assigned for work to be completed. The outstanding volumes are in line with what we would expect to see based on the differing clearance targets for certain tasks, such as retirements which can take up to 4 months to process. This is what the Cabinet Office expects to see and monitors on a monthly basis. The Cabinet Office continues to emphasise to MyCSP the importance of meeting contractual performance levels and improving member experience.

How many (a) ongoing work items, (b) unallocated cases and queries, (c) cases and queries allocated but not yet in progress and (d) cases and queries in progress but not yet completed were (i) being dealt with and (ii) still to be dealt with by MyCSP on 1 September 2025.

MyCSP, the Civil Service pension scheme administrator, does not record the data in the format requested. It reports to the Cabinet Office on a monthly basis. As at 31 August 2025, 73,725 new work items were received in August. A work item reflects an individual piece of work or task. There are 46,983 outstanding items - 9,950 cases awaiting a response and 37,033 items assigned for work to be completed. The outstanding volumes are in line with what we would expect to see based on the differing clearance targets for certain tasks, such as retirements which can take up to 4 months to process. This is what the Cabinet Office expects to see and monitors on a monthly basis. The Cabinet Office continues to emphasise to MyCSP the importance of meeting contractual performance levels and improving member experience.