The WASPI campaign remain confident the DWP decision will be overturned
WASPI campaigners are continuing in their fight for DWP compensation(Image: Getty)
The WASPI campaign is gearing up for a legal battle with the DWP after finding ‘new flaws’ in the government’s position. The Women Against State Pension Inequality campaigners will present their case at a judicial review at the high court in December. Their lawyers will argue that the Department for Work and Pensions decision not to grant compensation to the 1950s-born women they represent should be overturned.
The dispute revolves around the generation of women impacted when their state pension went up from 65 to 66 and then 67. They claim the DWP did not properly inform them of the change. Many were unaware right up until they were approaching 60, ruining their retirement plans when they found out.
The Government announced at the end of last year that there would be no compensation for the women. Ministers argued that most women did know of the change and that sending out letters sooner to let them know would have had little impact.
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This was despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman finding there was ‘maladministration’ in the DWP’s efforts to publicise the state pension age increase. The watchdog recommended payouts ranging from £1,000 to £2,950 for the women.
Now the high court has agreed to review the DWP’s decision, both sides have presented their case in writing. In August, lawyers acting on behalf of the DWP presented their detailed grounds of resistance, a lengthy defence of the Government’s decision.
WASPI campaign chair Angela Madden said the group’s legal team is now reading over these documents. She said: “The lawyers are going through thousands of pages of new evidence.
The WASPI campaign are continuing in their fight for DWP compensation(Image: Getty)
“Unfortunately, we can’t say anything about what that evidence is until the court publishes it, which should be quite soon.” The high court will consider the issue on December 9 and 10, but the WASPI lawyers have to file their response to the DWP’s grounds of resistance a few weeks prior to the court date.
‘We are as confident as were before’
Ms Madden said they remain confident the high court will overturn the DWP’s decision. She said: “We are not deterred by any of the evidence that we have seen.
“The lawyers have identified further flaws in the DWP’s decision, and we’ve applied to the court for permission to argue them as part of our case. We are as confident as we were before we saw all the detailed evidence.”
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If the high court does overrule the decision, this does not guarantee compensation for the women. The Government may issue a decision again that there will be no payouts, using a different reasoning.
However, there is much support in the halls of Westminster for the WASPI cause. Many individual MPs back the campaign and some political parties have consistently supported compensation, including the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the SNP.
When asked previously about the judicial review, a DWP spokesperson said: “We do not comment on live litigation. We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy and that is why we have decided not to pay compensation.”