Government to reconsider Waspi women compensation claim after new evidence
The decision not to award compensation to women affected by the rise in state pension age will be reviewed, the Work and Pensions Secretary has said, after new evidence came to light.
Pat McFadden confirmed the decision will be reconsidered and the government will withdraw from the judicial review brought by the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) due to begin next month, while the evidence is reviewed.
McFadden said that the new evidence had been uncovered during the legal proceedings challenging the government’s decision in December not to compensate the women.
He added that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) documents from 2007 had not been shown to his predecessor Liz Kendall.
The evidence
Kendall opted to rule out paying compensation last year, despite a recommendation in a report by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman in March 2024 saying the women should be paid up to £2,950, arguing that most people knew the changes were coming.
The proposed compensation package could have resulted in a £10.5bn hit to public finances.
But McFadden told the Commons on Tuesday: “As part of the legal proceedings challenging the government’s decision, evidence has been cited about research findings from a 2007 report.”
“In light of this, and in the interest of fairness and transparency, I have concluded that the government should now consider this evidence.
“This means we will retake the decision made last December.”
He added that had Kendall been provided the report she would have “considered it alongside all other relevant evidence and material”.
Waspi women
Waspi campaigners argue that the 3.6m women born in the 1950s were not properly warned about the rise in state pension age bringing them in line with men, leaving them financially under prepared.
This issue stems from the 1995 Pensions Act, which included a plan to raise the age for women from 60 to 65.
Further legislation from the coalition government in 2011 pushed the state pension age up to 66 for both men and women.
Roughly 300,000 affected women are believed to have died since calls for compensation were first made in 2015.
However, McFadden stressed the review should not be “taken as an indication” that the government will decide that “it should award financial redress”.
Angela Madden, chair of Waspi, said: “For 10 years we have been fighting for compensation.”
“The Government has fought us tooth and nail every step of the way.
“The only correct thing to do is to immediately compensate the 3.6 million WASPI women who have already waited too long for justice.”