A SCOTTISH Labour minister has poured cold water on hopes for a universal compensation scheme for Waspi women, the Sunday National can reveal.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks told a constituent that he believed that the amount of compensation recommended – between £1000 and around £3000 – would be “insulting” to victims.
The letter also revealed that the Treasury, which is asking departments to make swingeing cuts ahead of next month’s Budget, is in “fresh discussions” with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) about compensation.
But he argued strongly against a universal scheme saying: “I’m not convinced a one-size-fits-all approach is right, or a good use of public money.”
Waspi women have campaigned for years to be compensated after missing out on their pensions when the eligibility age was increased.
They argue the changes, which were accelerated after they were first announced, were not adequately communicated to those affected.
There are hopes among some Waspi campaigners that the new cohort of Labour MPs will be more sympathetic to their cause – but Shanks’s letter is seen as evidence the new Government will “badly let these women down”.
In the letter, first reported in David Hencke’s Westminster Confidential blog and verified by the Sunday National, Shanks said he wanted the Government’s response to an ombudsman report earlier this year calling for compensation to be “fully costed and considered”.
He added: “With regards to the current situation more generally, I’ve asked a number of questions of colleagues about where we are at with the report, and my understanding is it is being looked at seriously by Treasury and DWP ministers now they are in post, and fresh discussions are taking place about what happens next.
“You’ll appreciate the previous government did absolutely nothing on it, so we have had to instruct civil servants to begin reviewing the report properly.
“I would hope we would have a statement on next steps soon, but there is so much going on in government just now not everything can happen immediately.”
Shanks (above) said that the figure recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) – which would cost the Government around £10 billion in total – was “insulting” to genuine victims because the individual payments were so low.
He said: “The PHSO has recommended £1-3000 per person, costing up to £10bn. However, this would give compensation to women who did know about the change – around 43% of Waspi women, according to the PHSO.
“We need to ensure that any compensation is fair, so that at such a difficult time for the country financially we are not paying out thousands of pounds of compensation to women who were well aware of the changes, and that we are not insulting those badly affected with a mere £1-3000.”
The Rutherglen MP was accused of ditching promises previously made by the Labour Party.
Clare Haughey (above), who represents the South Lanarkshire town for the SNP, said: “The SNP have been supporting Waspi campaigners for years while both Tory and now Labour UK Governments have badly let these women down.
“We won’t stop campaigning until they pay out the compensation these women deserve.
“For years, Labour Party representatives made promise after promise to deliver justice for these women. However, now that they have the power to do something about it, the Labour Party have deliberately decided those previous promises and these wronged women don’t matter to them anymore.”
Haughey said that Waspi women deserved “fair and fast compensation”, adding: “The SNP will keep to our principled position and concrete commitment in support of the Waspi women and will hold the Labour government to account until these women receive the justice they deserve.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “This was a serious report, requiring serious consideration. In July, we agreed with the Waspi campaign that the Minister for Pensions would meet them, and we have since offered them a date in early September.
“We will continue to listen respectfully to the women involved, and ensure we take on board any lessons learnt.”
Shanks did not respond to requests for comment.
