Cat Little faces questions on the Civil Service Pensions failure and Infected Blood compensation
Next Tuesday, Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Cat Little CB, will be questioned by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) on the work of the Cabinet Office, including its annual report and accounts, and on some of its major challenges such as Civil Service Pensions and Infected Blood compensation.
Meeting details
Earlier this month, Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the committee that the issues with the Civil Service Pensions are ‘completely and utterly unacceptable’. In a session last year, Cat Little told the Public Accounts Committee that plans would be in place if Capita wasn’t ready for the handover. Considering this, MPs are likely to ask how this happened and what is being done to fix it, including the progress of the hardship loan scheme.
MPs are also likely to ask the Permanent Secretary, alongside Chief Executive of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority David Foley, about the challenges of processing compensation claims and estimating expected claimant numbers, as well as how the trust of the infected blood community can be rebuilt.
Questions on the Cabinet Office’s role in releasing papers related to Lord Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as well as on the department’s headcount may also be asked.