'Serious consideration' required for report suggesting women get compensation after pension age change

There has been a long-running campaign by Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) to address issues surrounding changes to the state pension age for women born on or after April 6, 1950.

Now, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has asked Parliament to intervene and “act swiftly” to make sure a compensation scheme is established, which could total billions of pounds.

Waspi chairwoman Angela Madden said there were parallels with other scandals in recent years such as the Post Office and Windrush, and said the Government had caused “great harm to Waspi women”.

Makerfield MP Yvonne Fovargue has supported the Waspi campaigners, particularly the Wigan and Makerfield Waspi Group.

She said: “This is a serious report that requires serious consideration. The PHSO has rightly said it is for the Government to respond and I will press them to do so. The PHSO says that Parliament should also consider his findings.

"I will take time to give the report proper consideration too, and continue to listen respectfully to the women who have been affected, as I have done from the start.

"I understand how strongly many women born in the 1950s feel about this issue and everything that has happened since. So lessons must be learnt from what has happened over recent decades to ensure everyone can properly plan for their retirement. This includes guaranteeing information about any changes to the state pension age are provided in a timely and targeted way and tailored to individual needs.”

The ombudsman said that, to date, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had not acknowledged its failings, nor put things right for those affected.

The PSHO used a severity of injustice scale to determine a financial payment that it believes is appropriate and proportionate.

It believes women experienced a significant and/or lasting impact which is level four on the scale, which is between £1,000 and £2,950.

It has put forward this suggestion and it will be up to Parliament to determine a remedy.

The PSHO’s investigation found thousands of women may have been affected by DWP’s failure to adequately inform them that the state pension age had changed.

The 1995 Pensions Act and subsequent legislation raised the state pension age for women born on or after April 6, 1950.

The ombudsman investigated complaints that, since 1995, DWP has failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information about areas of state pension reform.

The DWP’s handling of the pension age changes meant some women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances. It diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control, the ombudsman said.

The report said: “We recognise the very significant cost to taxpayers of compensating all women affected by DWP’s maladministration.

“Compensating all women born in the 1950s at the level four range would involve spending between around £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion of public funds, though we understand not all of them will have suffered injustice.”

Both the DWP and the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government would consider the ombudsman’s report and respond to their recommendations formally “in due course”.