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UK pensions: Waspi campaign might find itself on the backburner, as Work and Pensions Committee to discuss whether unfairness between different generations is a greater issue

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The Work and Pensions Committee will be hearing evidence on fairness within the pensions regime next week from none other than two former ministers. 

The Committee announced today that former minister of state for universities and science Lord Willetts and former pensions minister Steve Webb would be giving evidence as part of an ongoing inquiry into intergenerational fairness in the pensions system.

Topics on the table include whether inequality between generations is a more urgent issue than inequality within generations, which will potentially have implications for the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign.

Waspi has been arguing for some time that increases to the state pension age have left women born in the 1950s at a distinct disadvantage to men born in the same decade. 

Other issues to be discussed include the future of state pension triple lock, which ensures that basic state pension is increased each year by the higher of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent.

In last November's Autumn Statement, chancellor George Osborne promised to maintain the triple lock system for the remainder of this government's term.

Lord Willetts has been a vocal advocate for reforming the pensions system, arguing that it is currently skewed too far in favour of the baby boomer generation.

Meanwhile, Steve Webb worked on a number of major pensions reforms, including increases to the state pension age, the triple lock increase and the new single-tier state pension, during his time in office.