Complaints received for public sector pension schemes

FOI reference - FOI-413

Date - 3 October 2025

Request

I am interested in the number and nature of complaints or reports received by The Pensions Regulator in relation to the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) and MyCSP. I’ve outlined below the full scope of my request to assist with your search and ensure the data is as useful as possible.

1. Complaints related to the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS)
   • Total number of complaints per year, ideally from 2012 to present.
   • Any categorisation of complaints (e.g. delays, payment errors, member communication issues).
   • Whether the complaints refer to MyCSP, or to other parts of CSPS administration.
2. Complaints specifically about MyCSP
   • Number of complaints per year (from 2012 onwards, if possible).
   • If available, a breakdown by type of complaint (e.g. processing delays, incorrect payments, lost data, failure to respond, etc.).
   • Trends over time, particularly in the context of the McCloud judgment and related scheme complexity since 2015.
3. Complaints concerning the Cabinet Office’s role
   If your records include any complaints or issues about the management of the CSPS by the Cabinet Office (as scheme manager, distinct from MyCSP as administrator), I would be very interested in this information too.
4. Complaints about Equiniti more broadly
   Given that MyCSP is part of Equiniti, and that Equiniti administers several other public sector pension schemes, I would be grateful if you could provide:
   • The total number of complaints received about Equiniti’s pension administration services, broken down by year since 2012.
   • If available, please also break this down by pension scheme, particularly the following:
     • Civil Service Pension Scheme
     • NHS Pension Scheme
     • Armed Forces Pension Scheme / Veterans Pension Scheme
     • West Midlands Pension Fund (LGPS)
     • Other Local Government Pension Schemes

Response

Duty to confirm or deny whether we hold the information requested

We neither confirm nor deny that we hold information falling within the description specified in your request.

Section 44(1)(a) – restricted information under s82 PA04

The reason that we cannot confirm or deny that we hold the information is because disclosure of the sort of information requested is prohibited under an enactment, save in certain circumstances which do not apply here.

As we have been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others, those powers are also balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’. Restricted information is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:

‘…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person’.

Under section 82(5) of the PA04 it is a criminal offence to disclose such information except as permitted under that Act.

Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we are unable to disclose this sort of information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.

This response should not be taken as any indication of whether or not we hold the information you requested.

Duty to assist

We believe that The Pensions Ombudsman would be better suited to potentially answer your request and/or may already publish information on the types of complaints it has received. You can contact them through the following means:

By email – InformationManagement@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk

In writing – 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU.