Labour will ‘retake’ its previous decision to reject compensation after old evidence comes to light
The Government has announced it will look again at whether or not to award compensation to so-called Waspi women over changes to the state pension age.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said Labour would “retake” the decision after his predecessor Liz Kendall rejected a watchdog’s recommendation to give compensation to the affected women in December.
McFadden told MPs in the Commons that the Government had not considered 2007 research findings by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
“In light of this – and in the interests of fairness and transparency – I have concluded that the Government should now consider this evidence,” he said.
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“This means we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age,” he added.
However, McFadden made clear that the Government would not necessarily change its mind on payments.
“Retaking this decision should not be taken as an indication that the Government will necessarily decide that it should award financial redress,” said the cabinet minister.
Waspi had pushed for compensation for the 3.6 million 50s-born women who expected their state pension at 60, but were forced to wait another five or six years.
The campaign group filed a judicial review case against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with the High Court, expected to be heard in December.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
McFadden said the failure to consider DWP research findings from 2007 – an evaluation of the effectiveness of automatic pension forecast letters – had come to light as part of the legal battle.
The minister defended his predecessor however – arguing that Kendall “did her job thoroughly and professionally in weighing up all the information before her, and then coming to a conclusion”.
He said that if the 2007 report been provided to Kendall, “she would of course have considered it alongside all other relevant evidence”.
McFadden said the DWP has informed the High Court it would be retaking its decision on compensation. The move is expected to delay any court proceedings until a new decision is made.
“In retaking the decision, we will review the evidence from 2007 alongside evidence previously considered,” the Work and Pensions Secretary told MPs.
“I have of course asked the Department if there is any further survey material or other evidence which should be brought to my attention as part of this process.”
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman last year found the DWP guilty of “maladministration” for failing to properly notify women of the changes.
The watchdog recommended compensation payments of between £1,000 and £2,950. It would put the total bill at up to £10.5bn.
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The Waspi campaign had pushed for £10,000 each, which would put the bill to taxpayers at around £36bn.
The Government said in December 2024 that it accepted the verdict of maladministration and apologised for the way pension age changes were communicated to women.
But ministers dismissed the idea of compensation. Kendall’s said then that it would not be “fair or proportionate” use of taxpayers’ money.
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