paymaster general and Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds. CC BY 3.0 Attribution 3.0 Unported
The government has terminated the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme’s contract with Capita.
In a ministerial statement in parliament today (22 April), paymaster general and Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said this comes "following a failure to meet critical transition milestones and a lack of confidence in Capita's ability to implement and transition to the new operating model in a timely fashion".
Capita has administered the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme since 2017 and the contract was renewed in 2024 for six years starting in 2026.
Thomas-Symonds said Capita had an 18-month planning window to prepare for the transition and "failed to deliver numerous milestones including a failure to implement the required IT automation".
He noted the Cabinet Office "repeatedly flagged delays in transition milestones, ultimately issuing formal correspondence to reaffirm the mandatory requirements to ensure members are protected".
Speaking in the House of Commons, Thomas-Symonds said the government will "ensure continuity of the existing contract", but warned: "Let the message be clear – we will not tolerate delivery failure from contracted partners."
He added: "Public services require high quality delivery and public money should not be used to fund performance that falls short of standards we expect."
Professional Pensions has asked Capita for comment
