Government to rethink rejection of Waspi compensation

The government’s decision to deny compensation to women affected by changes to the state’s retirement age will be reconsidered.

Campaigners say 3.6 million women born in the 1950s have not been given the necessary information to bring the retirement age in line with men.

Last year the government apologized for the 28-month delay in sending the letters but denied any financial payment.

The government said a document had not been shown to Liz Kendall, who was Work and Pensions Secretary at the time the decision was made, leading to a rethinking of the matter.

Current Pensions Minister Pat McFadden told the House of Commons that reinstating the decision did not mean payments would be made to those affected.

“I understand that people are impatient for this issue to be resolved,” he said.

“It is important that we give full and appropriate consideration to this matter.”

The undisclosed evidence in question was a survey conducted in 2007, and McFadden said checks would be carried out to ensure other documents and surveys had not been overlooked.

At the beginning of last year, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each of those affected.

Although the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) was able to recommend compensation, it was unable to implement it and the government refused.

Ministers said there was no evidence of “direct financial loss” resulting from the government’s decision and that Labor did not believe it would be “fair or proportionate” for taxpayers to pay all women a flat fee at a cost of up to £10.5bn.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign had called for payments of at least £10,000 per person.

A judicial review of the government’s decision not to pay compensation is ongoing. Campaigners raised money for a legal challenge and the court capped the government’s contribution to legal fees if they were unsuccessful.

The case was scheduled to go to the Supreme Court in December.

The age at which people receive a state pension is rising as people live longer and is currently 66 for men and women.

But for decades, men received their state pension at 65 and women at 60.

In accordance with the 1995 Pensions Act, a timetable was drawn up to equalize the age at which men and women receive state pensions. The plan was to raise the qualifying age for women to 65 and phase in this change from 2010 to 2020.

However, the coalition government in 2010 decided to accelerate this. Under the Pensions Act 2011, the new qualifying age for women, 65, was introduced in 2018.

The increases were controversial. Campaigners say women born in the 1950s have been treated unfairly because of rapid changes and the way those changes are communicated to those affected.