WASPI women could hear State Pension age change compensation update from DWP next week

Women born in the 1950s impacted by changes to their State Pension age could hear an update on compensation plans from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) next week. In recent weeks, the Prime Minister and DWP boss Liz Kendall have both said that an update on the UK Government’s review into the final report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is due ‘in the near future’ and ‘soon’.

And that could be during the scheduled DWP oral questions session in Parliament on Monday, December 16. This scheduled parliamentary time is an opportunity for MPs across the House to ask DWP-related questions to the ministerial team, and also an opportunity for any statements to be made.

Read More

Related Articles

Read More

Related Articles

It’s important to be aware this is speculative and based on recent comments made by the senior political figures, the lack of formal response to an online petition by the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) calling for an urgent compensation scheme, a letter from Opposition leaders to the Labour Government calling for a compensation update and the upcoming parliamentary winter recess, which starts at the end of next week.

Last month Liz Kendall told the Work and Pensions Committee that she will resolve the issue of State Pension age compensation for WASPI women “as soon as possible”. The Secretary of State said that the PHSO report is “extremely complicated” and there is “lots of information to go through” but that the UK Government “needs to get it right”.

Also in November, Sir Keir Starmer told reporters on the trip to the G20 summit in Brazil that WASPI women could hear an update about a compensation plan “in the not too distant future”. He added that Ms Kendall would be making a statement “on this in the not too distant future”.

More than 130,000 people have also signed an online petition 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 report.

At 10,000 signatures the petition is entitled to a written response from the UK Government, but none has been given in the 17 days since the benchmark was passed. The petition is now being considered for a parliamentary debate by the Petitions Committee, having crossed the 100,000 signature threshold nine days ago.

And just last week, the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens joined forces with other Opposition parties to demand compensation as soon as possible for millions of 1950s-born women. In a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the coalition of senior MPs are calling for an urgent update on compensation scheme proposals.

Senior figures including the SNP’s Stephen Flynn, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and Green co-leader Carla Denyer have all backed the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign’s calls for ‘fair and fast compensation’. The campaign group says that more than three and a half million women born in the 1950s were impacted after the UK Government failed to properly inform them of substantial increases to their State Pension age.

Campaigners say the worst affected women experienced increases of up to six years, while tens of thousands were plunged into poverty as a result.

The cross-party letter, sent to senior government figures on Thursday morning, calls for an urgent update on a WASPI compensation scheme, demanding a response from ministers before parliament rises on December 19.

The letter states: “We urge you to update Parliament on your progress in responding to the PHSO’s report before the Christmas recess, setting out the likely scope of any compensation scheme and when it will commence.”

It goes on to cite that more than 25,000 women affected by the retirement age change have died since the final report from the PHSO was published in March 2024. The Ombudsman’s independent investigation found that affected women should have had at least 28 months’ more individual notice from the DWP of the changes to their State Pension age.

It also said that for women who were not aware of the changes, the opportunity that additional notice would have given them to adjust their retirement plans was lost due to delay.

The report 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.

The letter to the Chancellor and Work and Pensions Secretary has been signed by:

• Sir Ed Davey MP, Leader, Liberal Democrats
• Stephen Flynn MP, Westminster Leader, Scottish National Party
• Liz Saville Roberts MP, Westminster Leader, Plaid Cymru
• Gavin Robinson MP, Leader, Democratic Unionist Party
• Adrian Ramsay MP and Carla Denyer MP, Co-leaders, Green Party of England and Wales
• Sorcha Eastwood MP, Westminster Spokesperson, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Robin Swann MP, Westminster Spokesperson, Ulster Unionist Party

The DWP oral questions session is scheduled to start at 230pm on Monday, December 16. You can watch it live on Parliament TV here.