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Liz Kendall announces Waspi women will not receive compensation<\/p>\nWASPI campaigners have shared a new update on a short hearing to be held this week.Liz Kendall announces Waspi women will not receive compensation<\/p>\n
The Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign (WASPI) have announced the judicial review challenging the UK Government\u2019s rejection of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) report into State Pension <\/a>age changes, will be heard on December 3.<\/p>\n The legal challenge at the High Court is still listed for a full hearing on December 9 and 10, 2025. However, on Monday, the court scheduled a two and a half hour hearing for Wednesday to consider the implications for the legal case after the commitment made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden,<\/a> last month to reconsider the December 2024 decision.<\/p>\n WASPI\u2019s<\/a> position is that the reconsideration \u2018might have value\u2019, but it is deeply concerned about delays as no timescale has been given.<\/p>\n READ MORE: UK Government warned State Pension age changes will disadvantage people in Scotland<\/a>READ MORE: WASPI call for \u2018immediate\u2019 State Pension age compensation payout for millions of women<\/a><\/p>\n The campaign is also concerned that the UK Government may end up making a new decision that simply replicates the December 2024 one, including the legal errors currently being challenged.<\/p>\n WASPI has asked its legal team to seek \u2018satisfactory assurances\u2019 from the UK Government so it can make a final decision on whether to press for the full hearing to go ahead.<\/p>\n WASPI chair, Angela Madden, said: \u201cLast month\u2019s reconsideration announcement was a major step forward for WASPI women, because the Government accepted important evidence was never considered by the Minister (Liz Kendall) when she rejected the Ombudsman\u2019s findings on injustice and compensation proposals.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the Government has since been coy about how it will go about reconsidering and the timescale. Our lawyers have been pressing the Government on these and other matters.<\/p>\n \u201cThe imminent court hearings may not be necessary, but only if we can be confident the Government is willing to reconsider in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Madden added: \u201cThe high stakes should not be forgotten. This is a case of the utmost public interest. It impacts not only on millions of WASPI women, but on everyone who trusts the Ombudsman system to resolve their grievances about public authority decisions. Most importantly of all, every 13 minutes, a WASP woman dies without seeing justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Campaigners have argued that the UK Government did not properly inform women born in the 1950s that there would be delays to them receiving the State Pension.<\/p>\n The group has argued that this led to women planning their finances based on incorrect understandings, which has left them having to work longer or facing financial hardship.<\/p>\n The decision to refuse compensation was made despite a recommendation by the PHSO in MArch 2024 that the women should be paid up to \u00a32,950 each.<\/p>\n Then-work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said in December last year that the potential \u00a310.5 billion cost could not be justified.<\/p>\n However, last month, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said his department would review the policy, announced last year, not to compensate women born in the 1950s who were affected by the increase in the State Pension age.<\/p>\n Mr McFadden offered campaigners no guarantees that the review would lead to compensation being awarded.<\/p>\n The minister said \u201cin the interests of fairness and transparency\u201d, the Government would reconsider its decision.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThis means we will retake the decision made last December, as it relates to the communications on state pension age.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI understand that people are impatient for this matter to be finally resolved with the ombudsman\u2019s investigation having taken six years before reporting last year, but it is important that we give this full and proper consideration.<\/p>\n \u201cRetaking this decision should not be taken as an indication that the Government will necessarily decide that it should award financial redress.\u201d<\/p>\n Waspi women have since sought a judicial review to challenge the Government\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr McFadden said the DWP document was revealed during the legal proceedings.<\/p>\n He said the research findings from the report on the effectiveness of automatic pension forecast letters would have been taken into account if his predecessor, Liz Kendall, who was sat alongside him in the Commons, had been aware of it.<\/p>\n The DWP evaluation said it believed the letters had little impact on knowledge of the state pension system.<\/p>\n It said that under a third of those asked could recall reading the letters.<\/p>\n Mr McFadden continued: \u201cThe work will begin immediately and I will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.\u201d<\/p>\n The issue stems from the 1995 Pensions Act, which introduced a plan to bring the state pension age for women in line with men, at 65.<\/p>\n Further legislation introduced under the then-coalition government brought forward the timetable for the pension age to rise to 66 for both men and women.<\/p>\n The PHSO then looked at complaints about how well the Government had communicated changes in an eight-year investigation.<\/p>\n Shadow Treasury minister Mark Garnier said the Conservatives accepted the \u201ccontents and spirit\u201d of the statement but said the Government was not on the side of pensioners.<\/p>\n Mr Garnier said: \u201cThe Waspi women are rightly angry with this Government.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile in opposition, shadow ministers and Labour MPs stood alongside these women, as (Mr McFadden) did campaigning for, and I quote, \u2018a better deal for Waspi women\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, when the party opposite win the general election, they quickly apparently U-turned on this position, blaming the fiscal situation they were left with.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cAll this statement has shown is that the Government wants to keep kicking the can down the road and not be accountable for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the PHSO said: \u201cWe acknowledge the Government\u2019s announcement that it has withdrawn the decision not to award compensation to women affected by failings in communication of changes to the state pension age.<\/p>\n \u201cWe offer our assistance to the DWP as they review the available evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Join the conversation on our Money Saving Scotland Facebook group<\/a> for money-saving tips, the latest State Pension and benefits news, energy bill advice and cost of living updates.<\/p>\n Sign up to our Record Money newsletter and get the top stories sent to your inbox daily from Monday to Friday with a special cost of living edition every Thursday – sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @Recordmoney_<\/a> for regular updates throughout the day or get money news alerts on your phone by joining our Daily Record Money WhatsApp community<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762683492_757_0_DR-MOney.png\")
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