UK state pension systems not fit for purpose – MPs’ report

Those affected by the faults will be paid an average of £8,900 each. The errors go as far back as 1985. Photograph: 10,000 Hours/Getty Images

The UK’s state pension payment system is not fit for purpose, resulting in the “shameful shambles” of an underpayment scandal that left tens of thousands of pensioners short-changed, according to a scathing report from a committee of MPs.

The public accounts committee (PAC) also lambasted the Department for Work and Pensions for its “complacency”, and accused it of not having been “sufficiently transparent” to parliament about the problems.