WASPI women taking new legal advice after State Pension age compensation decision
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign has said it is now taking fresh legal advice after the UK Government's announced earlier this week that it will not be following recommendations made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) on compensation for women born in the 1950s affected by changes to their State Pension age.
WASPI campaigners have accused the Prime Minister of spreading “dangerous misinformation” in his defence of how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated retirement age changes to around 3.5 million women across the UK. During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer told MPs that “ninety per cent of women were aware of the changes” which campaigners have branded “misleading” and a distortion of the facts.
READ MORE: PHSO ‘disappointed’ by DWP decision not to pay WASPI women State Pension age compensation
READ MORE: DWP confirms no State Pension age compensation for millions of WASPI women
Angela Madden, Chair of the WASPI campaign, explained: “This isn’t just misleading. It’s an insult to millions of 1950s-born women who were blindsided by these changes. The Ombudsman’s findings were based on rigorous evidence showing that 60 per cent of women had no idea their own State Pension age was rising.
“The Government’s attempt to cherry-pick data to suggest otherwise is spreading dangerous misinformation, plain and simple.”
Ms Madden continued: “The fact that 90 per cent of women had some general awareness of potential changes in the future does not mean they knew this would impact them personally.
“That is exactly why the Ombudsman identified maladministration and why this Government’s continued attempts to muddy the waters are so unacceptable.”
After a six-year long investigation, the Ombudsman concluded in March 2024 that the UK Government’s failure to directly inform affected women was maladministration, resulting in financial hardship and emotional distress for millions.
On December 17, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologised on behalf of the UK Government to all women affected by changes to their State Pension age, but said there would be no compensation. The DWP boss explained any redress plan would place too much burden on taxpayers.
The PHSO recommended compensation at level four of its banding scale - between £1,000 to £2,950 per person. Ms Kendall explained that this would cost between £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion.
She said: “Given the great majority of women knew that the State Pension Age was increasing, the Government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women - at a cost of up to £10.5 billion - would be a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money.”
The decision has infuriated campaigners and dozens of backbench Labour MPs who have publicly blasted the move.
WASPI has called on MPs to heed the Ombudsman’s recommendation that Parliament intervene, with more than 300 MPs publicly pledging support for the campaign.
Ms Madden added: “We are not giving up. The Parliamentary Ombudsman has asked Parliament to step in, and a cross-party group of MPs is meeting to demand a vote on the principle of compensation.
“Keir Starmer has not heard the last of this issue. The Labour Government must act now to address this injustice.”
In a written response on Thursday to Liberal Democrat shadow work and pension spokesperson, Steve Darling MP, who had asked how many full and part-time staff worked on the Department's response to the PHSO report, Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds, said: “In responding to the Ombudsman’s report work was undertaken by civil servants across grades who worked both full and part-time.
“The Ombudsman’s report was detailed and complex. It took around six years to complete and the issues it considered spanned a period of some 30 years.
“It is not possible to determine the exact number of people who worked on this as it fluctuated as we reviewed and considered different elements of the Ombudsman’s report and evidence. This work included input from teams across the Department, who supported as and when needed.”
She added: “Following careful consideration of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report into how changes to the State Pension age were communicated, the Government has decided we will not be paying compensation. We have made our decision on the facts of the matter which we have set out in our detailed response and deposited in the House Library.”
Responding to the UK Government’s announcement, the Ombudsman, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said: “The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has responded to recommendations made following our investigation into DWP's communication of changes to women's State Pension age.
“The Government’s apology to the women affected by its failure to communicate about State Pension age changes is very significant and it is sad that women had to wait so long to hear it - sadder still that for many it came too late. I welcome the Government’s recognition that mistakes were made, and the commitment from the Secretary of State to make sure this never happens again.
“We look forward to hearing more about the action plan to take this work forward and we are ready to work with the Government to support change.”
Ms Hilsenrath added: “The Government’s decision not to accept our recommendations in full is disappointing and will have been hard for the women to hear.
“Our role as a Parliamentary body is to support Parliament to hold the Government to account. Throughout this investigation, DWP indicated it would not comply with our recommendations and that is why, nine months ago, we asked Parliament to intervene.”
