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'WASPI women' compensation rejected by Govt in ‘totally unjustified move’

'WASPI women' compensation rejected by Govt in ‘totally unjustified move’
Matt Browning
Written By:
Posted:
17/12/2024
Updated:
18/12/2024

Millions of women born in the 1950s who were affected by a failure to communicate the change in the state pension age will not receive any compensation, the Government confirmed.

There will be no payout for those impacted, despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO’s) investigation suggesting reimbursement.

In March, a breakthrough for women appeared to have been made as the PHSO found the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to provide women with enough warning and information about areas of state pension reform.

However, after more than 10 years of campaigning, the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group was told redress would not happen for reasons including it being too expensive and time-consuming to process.

In Parliament today (17 December), Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “It has taken the ombudsman nearly six years to investigate the circumstances of six sample complaints.

“For the DWP to set up a scheme and invite three-and-a-half million women to set out their detailed personal circumstances would take thousands of staff years to process.”

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She added: “Even if there was a scheme where women could self-certify that they weren’t aware of changes to their state pension age and that they have suffered injustice as a result, it would be impossible to verify the information provided. The alternative put forward in the report is for a flat-rate compensation scheme, at level 4 of the ombudsman’s injustice scale.

“This would provide £1,000-2,950 per person, at a total cost between £3.5bn and £10.5bn.”

Under the 1995 Pensions Act, it was announced that the state pension age would rise to 65 years old for women, aligning with the same age as men. This decision would raise the age gradually for around three-and-a-half million women by five years between 2010 and 2020.

However, the Pension Act 2011 sped up the plans and meant the state pension age for women would rise to 65 in 2018.

Then, in 2020, the state pension age for men and women rose again to 66 years old.

The way the policy change was communicated to women received criticism, with many women saying they could not make fair retirement plans. In the PHSO’s investigation, it gathered stories from women who had suffered as a result of the DWP’s maladministration. One woman said she lost out on almost £500,000 in additional pay because she did not know about the state pension age increase.

Another lost £186,000 in lost earnings due to her retiring at the age of 60 and not 65. Had ‘Ms E’ been aware of the age change, she said she’d have found more work.

Thousands of women also said they made the “irreversible decision” of retiring too early.

The PHSO’s final report found that 43% of women did know about the changes.

But in the House of Commons, Kendall said the report “did not sufficiently recognise the same research, which showed 73% of women aged between 45 and 54 were aware [that] the changes to the pension rules [were] coming.”

‘Decision would make Donald Trump blush’

Angela Madden, chair of WASPI, described the decision as “an unprecedented political choice to ignore the clear recommendations of an independent watchdog [that] ordered ministers urgently to compensate WASPI women nine months ago.”

Madden added: “This is a bizarre and totally unjustified move [that] will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can simply ignore their decisions. It feels like a decision that would make the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump blush.

“The idea that an ‘action plan’ to avoid such mistakes in future should be the result of a six-year ombudsman’s investigation is an insult both to the women and to the PHSO process.

“An overwhelming majority of MPs back WASPI’s calls for fair compensation and all options remain on the table. Parliament must now seek an alternative mechanism to force this issue onto the order paper so justice can be done.”

As part of the speech in Parliament, Kendall acknowledged that “many 1950s-born women will be disappointed”, but said the Government “will protect the pensions triple lock” as well as drive down NHS waiting lists.