MPs have called for an urgent inquiry into the Labour Government’s decision not to compensate Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) women impacted by historic policy decisions.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for State Pension Inequality for Women has urged the Work and Pensions Committee to investigate the Government’s response to a damning ombudsman report.
This request follows the government’s acceptance of maladministration in communicating pension changes to 1950s-born women, despite its refusal to provide financial compensation.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) launched its investigation in 2018 to examine potential injustice which reportedly impacted 3.8 million older women.
In the investigation, the PHSO focused on whether these women suffered due to “maladministration” in how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated state pension age changes.
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MPs have launched an inquiry into Waspi women “injustice”
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The probe was specifically designed to determine if the DWP’s communication methods regarding the changes to women’s state pension age were adequate.
Following the report’s findings, the government acknowledged there had been maladministration in how changes were communicated, but rejected the PHSO’s proposed remedy. The Government subsequently confirmed it would not provide any financial compensation to women born in the 1950s.
As part of its inquiry, the APPG has now asked the Work and Pensions Committee to evaluate whether the government’s decision to withhold financial redress was justified.
Furthermore, the parliamentary group specifically highlighted concerns about the PHSO’s statistics regarding women’s awareness of the pension changes and how official correspondence was interpreted and retained.
The PHSO investigation revealed that the DWP had provided adequate and accurate information between 1995 and 2004. However, the probe found that DWP decision-making between 2005 and 2007 resulted in a significant delay.
This delay meant there was a 28-month gap before the department began sending letters to 1950s-born women about their state pension age changes.
APPG co-chairs Rebecca Long-Bailey and Bryn Davies expressed deep concern over the Government’s stance. “As you can imagine many of those women who have suffered this injustice are simply devastated and perplexed by the Governments response,” they said.
The co-chairs formally requested the committee to consider “opening an inquiry or holding a one-off session into the Governments response.” The APPG has called for an investigation into what financial redress options were considered and costed by the DWP.
The group also wants to know whether additional compensation options remain available for consideration.
As well as this, parliamentary group noted that while the Work and Pensions Committee lacks legal powers to force government action, it has historically played a crucial role.
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The committee has previously been instrumental in scrutinising government responses to PHSO reports.
As well as this, the APPG has requested that the committee publish its own response to the government’s handling of the PHSO report.
“It is gravely concerning that without such scrutiny in this instance, a precedent may be set by this case where the government rejects the PHSO’s independent review and central recommendations without further challenge and discussion,” the co-chairs stated.
The group emphasised that proper scrutiny of the government’s response to the PHSO report was essential to maintain the integrity of independent reviews.
