The government has criticised teachers’ pensions administrator Capita for failing to meet targets for payments to bereaved beneficiaries. The current £39.4 million Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) contract sets the outsourcing giant a target of issuing all death benefit payments within seven working days of receiving a completed form. Death benefits are made to a TPS member’s family or nominated beneficiary after their death, and include ongoing survivors’ pensions. But Capita has been rated ‘inadequate’ on this key performance indicator (KPI) for four of the past five quarters. For the most recent quarter, covering 1 April to 30 June this year, the company processed just over 2,100 bereavement cases that involved a continuing pension. The average completion time was just over eight working days. On average, about one in 10 were not completed within seven days, said the DfE. Capita blamed a broken scanner for the recent delays, with board minutes from March saying a “mailroom scanning issue” was affecting the processing of bereavement cases. Death certificates must be submitted by post and scanned into the system. The minutes said “a Capita mailroom scanner experienced an extensive outage, preventing supporting evidence (eg death certificates) from being uploaded on to the system”. Multiple scanners were now in place, “to prevent a reoccurrence” ‘Unacceptable delays’ A DfE spokesperson said the delays “are clearly unacceptable”. “We understand that delays to bereavement payments can be distressing for families, and we expect Capita to work closely with those affected to resolve issues as quickly as possible and keep them informed throughout.” The department said bereavement cases were a priority, “given the importance of providing timely support to members’ families and beneficiaries”. It said the department had “worked closely with Capita to monitor performance and drive improvements”, including reviewing IT contingency arrangements and “securing additional resources” to limit delays. Capita incurs financial penalties when agreed service levels are not met, accruing different numbers of “service points”. Completing less than 90 per cent of death benefits payments within target results in 100 service points, says its contract, but the DfE did not confirm the level of penalty this could lead to. The Cabinet Office publishes details on how the government’s “most important contracts” are faring against their targets. On Capita’s ‘inadequate’ rating for the first quarter of last year, the Office’s notes state that an “increase in transactions has resulted in a deterioration of service and the supplier’s ability to deliver in accordance with the service levels in the agreement”. It added that “rectification activity has been identified and is being worked through.” Improves…then slips again Performance improved the following quarter, when Capita was graded as ‘approaching target’, despite “a significant increase in the number of transactions from members across all operational areas”. But the company was again rated ‘inadequate’ in the next two quarters and was “still experiencing a significant increase in the number of transactions”, which had “adversely affected service levels”. The notes also mentioned “long-tail impact from technical issues within the mailroom”, but there was no further detail on what these issues were. A Capita spokesperson said: “We work hard to protect ill health and bereavement cases and ensure these are prioritised. We continue to focus closely on performance in these areas and on keeping members informed throughout the process. “Earlier this year, outages affecting mailroom scanning equipment delayed the uploading of some supporting information and affected performance against the relevant target. The technical issue has now been resolved, and new equipment is in place.” Administration of the TPS is due to pass to Indian IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in November, after three decades of Capita management. The DfE said it was “working closely” with TCS as part of the transition, With a “focus on effective workflow controls, and strong performance monitoring from the outset”. Out of action Teachers Pensions will be unavailable for more than a week while the system moves to the new administrator. Services “will be temporarily unavailable from 6pm on 21 October to 2 November”, said a post on its social channels. An information document said this was to “securely transfer over two million records” to TCS, “and ensure they remain accurate and secure”. Members will not be able to access the TPS website or “My Pension Online” during the suspension. They will also not be able to contact TPS by phone, webchat or social media, or submit or track applications online. In the event of bereavement, serious ill health or serious financial hardship, members may contact a dedicated “urgent” email address, “and these cases will be prioritised following the transition”.