Ministers have been accused of presiding over a “day of shame” for the Labour government after they announced that up to 3.8 million women affected by changes to the state pension age will not receive compensation.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall rejected calls for individuals affected to be awarded between £1,000 and £2,950 each, while claiming she understood their unhappiness.
“I know there are women born in the 1950s who want and deserve a better life, they have worked hard in paid jobs and in bringing up their families,” she said.
She pledged the government would protect the pensions “triple lock”, drive down NHS waiting lists and deliver “the jobs, homes and opportunities your families need to build a better life”.
She insisted that denying compensation was the “right decision and the fair decision” because most women knew the state pension age was increasing, sending letters earlier wouldn’t have made a difference for most “and the proposed compensation scheme isn’t fair or value for taxpayers’ money”.
But the Lib Dems said it was a “day of shame for the government”.
And Labour MP Brian Leishman said he was “appalled” at the move. Hitting out at his own government, he said the women affected did not need “hollow statements. What they need is justice”.
The rise in the women’s state pension age from 60 to 65 sparked controversy, after millions claimed they were not properly informed. Many say they were forced to change their retirement plans as a result.
Campaigners says as many as 3.8 million women born in the 1950s are affected.
The changes triggered the formation of the Waspi campaign group, which stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality. They have spent years calling for compensation for the financial impact they say they suffered.
Earlier this year the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) released the findings of its five-year investigation into the issue and. in a damning assessment of the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) handling of the issue, warned of “maladministration”.
The PHSO report accepted that the DWP’s poor communication caused some women to lose “opportunities to make informed decisions”, although it made clear it did not believe it led to “direct financial loss”.
However, it ruled that affected women were due compensation of typically £1,000 to £2,950 each.
Angela Madden, chair of the Waspi group, said: “The government has made an unprecedented political choice to ignore the clear recommendations of an independent watchdog which ordered ministers urgently to compensate Waspi women nine months ago.
“This is a bizarre and totally unjustified move which will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can simply ignore their decisions? It feels like a decision that would make the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump blush.
“The idea that an ‘action plan’ to avoid such mistakes in future should be the result of a six-year ombudsman’s investigation is an insult both to the women and to the PHSO process.
“An overwhelming majority of MPs back Waspi’s calls for fair compensation and all options remain on the table. Parliament must now seek an alternative mechanism to force this issue on to the order paper so justice can be done.”
