DWP due to announce State Pension age compensation update ‘soon’ in Parliament

Linda Howard
·5-min read

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have hinted once again that an update for 1950s-born women affected by changes to their State Pension age will be made “soon” in Parliament, but no timeframe was given. If a statement is looming, there are just a few days left before Parliament rises for winter recess, and does not return until January 6, 2025.

During DWP questions in the House of Commons on Monday, SNP MP Seamus Logan highlighted how his party colleague Graham Leadbitter had recently asked Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions about an update for WASPI women (Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign) and was told that the Government were working “at pace”. He said: “Since then, 1,400 or 1,500 more women have died without justice or compensation. Will the Minister tell us what working ‘at pace’ means and give us a timeline?”

READ MORE: DWP confirms no compensation for millions of WASPI women affected by changes to State Pension age

READ MORE: New calls for State Pension age public inquiry for 1950s-born women affected by DWP changes

Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds told the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East MP how she was the “first Minister for eight years to meet the WASPI campaigners to listen to their concerns” and that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) “took six years to investigate six cases”.

She added: “We are working at pace on this issue. We hope to come to the House soon - if the hon. Gentleman will listen to my answer - to update him and the public on what we will do next.”

The PHSO’s final report, published on March 21, stated that “Parliament must urgently identify a mechanism for providing that appropriate remedy” and recommended compensation equivalent to level four on its banding scale, which is worth between £1,000 and £2,950.

In October, the Pensions Minister confirmed that the DWP have been “considering the costs of setting up a compensation scheme” for women affected by changes to their retirement age and in recent weeks both the PM and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall have said that an update is ‘coming soon’.

However, in a post on social media shortly after DWP questions the WASPI campaign accused the DWP of “kicking the can down the road”.

The post on X, formerly Twitter said: “Once again @EmmaforWycombe (Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds) says an announcement on #WASPI compensation will be ‘soon’. Without a firm deadline this is just kicking the can down the road, and more women will die without compensation.”

The post also thanked the SNP MP for putting the question to DWP Ministers.

More than 135,500 people have signed an online petition created and posted by the WASPI campaign calling on the UK Government to “fairly compensate” women born in the 1950s affected by changes to their State Pension age.

The petition also wants the UK Government to “urgently respond” to the recommendations in the PHSO’s final report and set up a compensation scheme by March 21, 2015.

However, in a written response to the proposal published on December 10, the DWP gave no specific timeframe on when a statement on the PHSO findings will be made, or if a compensation scheme will be announced.

The Department said: “The Government is reviewing the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report and once this work has been undertaken, will be in a position to outline its approach.”

Having passed the 100,000 signature threshold, the petition is now eligible to be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament. You can read the full petition and DWP response on the petitions-parliament website here.

Woman in Scotland affected by State Pension age changes

In Scotland, as of the 2022 census there were the following numbers of 1950s-born women in each Scottish constituency:

  • East Renfrewshire - 6,086

  • Na h-Eileanan an Iar - 1,914

  • Midlothian - 5,569

  • North Ayrshire and Arran - 6,866

  • Orkney and Shetland - 2,901

  • Aberdeen North - 6,079

  • Aberdeen South - 5,144

  • Aberdeenshire North and Moray East - 6,279

  • Airdrie and Shotts - 5,342

  • Alloa and Grangemouth - 5,716

  • Angus and Perthshire Glens - 7,146

  • Arbroath and Broughty Ferry - 6,507

  • Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber - 7,029

  • Bathgate and Linlithgow - 5,286

  • Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross - 6,977

  • Coatbridge and Bellshill - 5,540

  • Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy - 5,976

  • Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch - 5,585

  • Dumfries and Galloway - 7,212

  • Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale - 6,432

  • Dundee Central - 5,094

  • Dunfermline and Dollar - 5,543

  • East Kilbride and Strathaven - 5,921

  • Edinburgh East and Musselburgh - 4,895

  • Edinburgh North and Leith - 4,363

  • Edinburgh South - 5,203

  • Edinburgh South West - 4,699

  • Edinburgh West - 5,847

  • Falkirk - 5,732

  • Glasgow East - 4,516

  • Glasgow North - 3,995

  • Glasgow North East - 4,823

  • Glasgow South - 4,754

  • Glasgow South West - 4,648

  • Glasgow West - 4,880

  • Glenrothes and Mid Fife - 5,958

  • Gordon and Buchan - 5,696

  • Hamilton and Clyde Valley - 5,982

  • Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West - 6,209

  • Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire - 6,686

  • Livingston - 5,600

  • Lothian East - 6,023

  • Mid Dunbartonshire - 6,639

  • Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey - 6,736

  • Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke - 5,589

  • North East Fife - 6,248

  • Paisley and Renfrewshire North - 5,749

  • Paisley and Renfrewshire South - 5,439

  • Perth and Kinross-shire - 6,664

  • Rutherglen - 6,004

  • Stirling and Strathallan - 5,965

  • West Dunbartonshire - 5,905

  • Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock - 6,619

  • Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk - 7,240

  • Central Ayrshire - 6,245

  • Kilmarnock and Loudoun - 6,100

  • West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine - 6,004

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