UK government admits Capita pension portal was 'crapita' at launch

The UK government has acknowledged that Capita's £239 million Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) web portal launched in a severely compromised state, failing to deliver promised functionality and struggling to handle basic operations. The admission came during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing that revealed the portal was riddled with technical failures, placeholder text, and broken functionality when it went live in December 2025.

The portal's problems were immediately apparent to users, who reported unrecognized login credentials, circular navigation links, and unfinished features displaying dummy text. These issues emerged after Capita took over management of one of the UK's largest pension schemes, which serves approximately 1.5 million current and former civil servants.

Catherine Little, civil service chief operating officer and Cabinet Office permanent secretary, confirmed in a letter to the PAC that "Capita did not deliver the full levels of IT, automation, and portal functionality at go-live." She explained that this failure "significantly impacted Capita's ability to manage the volumes of work inherited and the new work delivered since go-live."

The government's decision to switch from MyCSP to Capita was complicated by deteriorating service levels at MyCSP and industrial action that created a backlog of cases. Little stated that ministers were notified of "shortcomings in the [Capita] IT solutions" but contractual limitations prevented extending MyCSP's service. "We implemented an exit plan but the legacy contract with MyCSP provided limited commercial levers to manage performance during their final months," she wrote.

Capita defended its approach by describing a phased implementation strategy. Chris Clements, managing director of Capita Public Services, told the PAC that the company had agreed with the Cabinet Office to split functionality between December 1 and the end of March. "The functionality that we went live with on December 1 was everything needed to administer a pension scheme," Clements said, though he acknowledged "teething problems and some difficulties with scaling and with the technology and with the line availability."

These problems proved more severe than anticipated. Initially, Capita expected to inherit around 37,300 cases from MyCSP, but Little revealed that in July 2025, Capita was specifically instructed to prepare for volumes of up to 100,000 cases. Richard Holroyd, CEO of Capita Public Services, told the committee that while warned about increasing case numbers, the company had little understanding of case complexity or how long cases had been outstanding.

The portal's failures have had real-world consequences for pensioners. Retired civil servants have reported slashed incomes after payments failed to arrive, according to the BBC. Capita acknowledged struggling with a larger backlog than agreed and initially advised scheme members not to contact CSPS with non-urgent inquiries until a chatbot feature went live.

This debacle adds to Capita's troubled track record with government contracts. The company recently won a £370 million Department for Work and Pensions outsourcing deal that has been described as "extraordinary" given the pension portal's problems. Previous contracts have also faced scrutiny, including a £958 million outsourcing award that prompted legal action from competitor Sopra Steria.

Capita has attempted to address the backlog by implementing new technologies, including Microsoft Copilot to help manage the pension scheme's workload. However, the fundamental issues with the portal's initial launch raise questions about procurement processes, contract management, and the government's ability to oversee complex IT transformations in critical public services.

The CSPS portal failure represents a significant setback for digital transformation efforts in the UK public sector, highlighting the risks of large-scale outsourcing deals and the importance of thorough testing before system launches. With pensioners experiencing financial hardship and the government acknowledging contractual shortcomings, the episode serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges of modernizing essential public services.