Capita has come under fire after making late payments of almost £2.4 million to the council pension fund.

The outsourcing firm, which runs Barnet Council’s pension scheme, missed out on payments of more than £1 million in the 2017 and 2018 financial years.

Capita pledged to pay the outstanding sums – which were identified in April this year – by the last meeting of the pension fund committee on October 16.

But Labour councillors criticised the firm after the committee was told the payments were still outstanding.

Labour pensions spokesperson Cllr Alison Moore said: “Capita are the biggest admitted body and they are also the administrator of the pension scheme, so not only do they not deal well with other admitted bodies but they can’t even get their internal processes right.

“The left hand really doesn’t know what the right hand is doing!”

Barnet Council has reported itself to the pensions regulator for failing to produce 447 pension benefits statements on time – which is a breach of the law.

The council was fined £1,000 last year after Capita did not submit the 2016 annual pension return on time.

Cllr Moore warned that the late payments could have harmed the health of the pension fund.

She added that the issues were indicative of wider problems with Capita, which faced criticism over its financial controls after a former employee committed a £2 million fraud against the council.

The council confirmed that the outstanding pension payments were made on Friday (October 26).

A Capita spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with the council to secure these outstanding payments and can confirm they have now been paid.”

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the outstanding payments have been paid.”

Barnet Council leader Cllr Richard Cornelius said: “We are in the middle of a contract renegotiation with Capita. Complacency is not on the agenda.”