Capita handed vital role in next pandemic despite civil service pension failures
Initial £31M deal comes with scope to scale sharply during a major outbreak
The UK government has granted Capita, a company facing criticism over its handling of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, a £31 million contract to develop a public health contact center that may be utilized during a future pandemic. This contract, awarded to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), could potentially escalate to a £350 million workload if a COVID-scale emergency arises. The contract, set to commence in November, is valid for an initial three-year term.
Capita took over the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December 2022, following its inception by the UK government. However, the company's performance has been under scrutiny, with issues arising from its online systems being exposed by The Register in March 2023. By that time, the service was already causing significant distress to retired civil servants who were struggling to manage their finances.
The UK government has already withheld £10 million in payments due to Capita's poor performance, and the dispute over additional payment reductions continues. An independent auditor has been invoked to address the situation.
In June, Capita missed a deadline to restore the services to the required standard. Following this, the company informed MPs that the service would return to normal for all but the most complex cases by September. UKHSA, established in 2021 after criticism of its early response to the COVID-19 crisis, plans for the Single Service Centre (SSC) to manage routine public health services while having the capacity to scale up during future health emergencies and other national incidents.
The SSC will provide cross-government surge services during health emergencies and other national incidents across various government departments.
Capita has been awarded a place on a framework for the SSC in a procurement notice published in June, alongside US customer experience company Foundever. The maximum value allocated to each supplier, including tax, is £157.5 million, and the framework has an initial five-year term. The SSC's purpose stems from the Test and Trace service, which received a £37 billion budget over two years, heavily relying on consultancy firms like Deloitte.
During a pandemic, UKHSA must provide a person-to-person communication service at a significant scale, allowing citizens to contact the agency for advice, order tests, or request therapeutics, and also facilitating contact tracing and providing guidance. Should a health emergency occur similar to COVID-19, UKHSA estimates the value of the work to increase from £39 million for routine activities to an estimated £350 million, including tax.
Capita plans to utilize a centralized operating model to handle customer contact, reporting, and insight, workforce planning, and quality assurance, leveraging its Capita Connect platform that employs cloud infrastructure and advanced data capabilities for efficient and resilient operations.
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