Government will reconsider rejection of compensation for Waspi

The government will reconsider a decision to refuse compensation for women affected by changes to the state pension age.

Campaigners say 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not adequately informed about the state pension age being raised to bring it in line with that of men.

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

No document was shown to Liz Kendall, who was Work and Pensions Secretary at the time of the decision, but it has since come to light and needed to be considered, the government has now said.

Current Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told the Commons that resuming the decision did not mean payments would be made to those affected.

“Revisiting this decision should not be taken as an indication that the government will necessarily decide to grant financial compensation,” he said.

The undisclosed evidence involved was a 2007 survey, and McFadden said checks would be carried out to ensure other documents and surveys had not been lost. No schedule has been given for the work to be done.

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

“It is important that we give it full and appropriate consideration.”

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

While the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) could recommend compensation, it was unable to enforce it and the government rejected it.

Ministers said there was no evidence of “direct financial losses” resulting from the government’s decision, and that Labor did not believe paying a flat fee to all women at a cost of up to £10.5 billion was “fair or proportionate” to taxpayers.

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

It is conducting a judicial review of the government’s decision not to pay compensation. Activists raised money for the legal challenge and a court limited the contribution to the government’s legal fees if they were unsuccessful.

The case was scheduled to go to the High Court in December. The government has now informed the court of its latest decision.

The age at which people receive the state pension has been increasing as people live longer and is currently 66 for men and women.

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

Under the Pensions Act 1995, a timetable was established to equalize the age at which men and women could draw their state pension. The plan was to increase the qualifying age for women to 65 and implement that change gradually from 2010 to 2020.

But the 2010 coalition government decided to accelerate that process. Under the Pensions Law of 2011, the new minimum age of 65 for women was brought forward to 2018.

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