
We are delighted at the news that following legal action by the Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign and supported by us, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has agreed to reconsider his recent report on compensation for 1950s women who were given inadequate notice of changes to their state pension age.
You can read the full story here https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/fair-compensation-for-waspi-women/
In July 2021 the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman ruled that it was maladministration when 3.8 million women born in the 1950s were not given adequate notice that their state pension age had changed. The Ombudsman is now considering what action should be taken by the Department of Work & Pensions to remedy this injustice. He hopes to conclude his investigation by the end of March 2023.
The Ombudsman’s confidential provisional findings have been sent to ‘complainants’ - women whose cases reached the Ombudsman level of the complaints procedure - and their MPs, to give them the opportunity to comment on his provisional recommendations. If you are a complainant you will have been sent the draft report. Please send your comments to the Ombudsman and your MP as soon as possible.
You can read more about the Ombudsman’s investigation below.
WASPI 2018 will continue to campaign for fair and fast compensation.
https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/complaints-womens-state-pension-age
SNP Leader , Stephen Flynn, has signed our pledge supporting our campaign for fair and fast compensation for 1950s women. This supports our aim of securing cross-party commitment to implementing the Ombudsman's recommendations without delay when they are published.
Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, has signed our pledge supporting our campaign for fair and fast compensation for 1950s women. This supports our aim of securing cross-party commitment to implementing the Ombudsman's recommendations without delay when they are published.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey pledges support for our campaign for fair and fast compensation.
“WASPI women have been ignored for years. At a time when bills are soaring, they are still fighting heroically for justice after changes to the state pension left them out of pocket.
Liberal Democrats want a fair deal for WASPI women. We believe that the Government has a duty to compensate the women who have lost out – through no fault of their own – and we will endorse any decisions by the Ombudsman on compensation.”
Liz Saville-Roberts
Plaid Cymru's Westminster Leader
“The WASPI women have suffered hugely as a result of maladministration and failure by DWP to appropriately inform them of changes to their State Pension Allowance.
“Despite the clamour of outrage and years of campaigning, the UK Government have refused to support these women who are trapped in difficult financial situations through no fault of their own.
“The UK Government not only have a legal obligation but also a moral obligation to address the hardship caused to the women whose pension plans were cut short by the UK Government.
“If the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommends that the WASPI women should be compensated, then the UK Government must act immediately to deliver a fair and fast compensation scheme.”
WASPI welcomes the submission which the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has made to the Ombudsman. It clearly sets out the various forms of injustice that we have suffered and makes a strong case for compensation at the highest level.
“The APPG strongly feels that now is the time for 1950s women to be given fast and proper compensation for the impact of successive maladministration.”
“These women … have faced horrific injustice and have been neglected time and time again. There is very little else to be said. The PHSO must act, and it must act robustly."
READ AN INTERVIEW WITH WASPI CHAIRPERSON HERE:
WASPI Scotland, together with WASPI Campaign 2018 and other 1950s pension groups, present SUBMISSION to the WASPI APPG
24/11/21
The Ombudsman contacted six test cases they chose to decide how to proceed. They have now concluded STAGE 1 of the process into the way the DWP communicated changes to women's State Pension age, and related issues. STAGE 1 -
CONFIRMATION OF MALADMINISTRATION
If your State Pension Age was changed by the 1995 Pension Act then again by the 2011 Act and you had no or little notification you could write and complain to the DWP. Hundreds of women in Scotland have already done this and worked through the lengthy complaints process.
***PLEASE NOTE NO NEW COMPLAINTS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ACCEPTED ****
If the Ombudsman finds there has been maladministration the findings will apply to ALL 1950s born women affected by the State Pension Age rises. More details about the process can be found on their website.
The Complaints procedure is a process which takes some time but currently test cases have been chosen by the (PHSO) Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, for a decision. Due to another legal challenge by the Back to 60 group, which led to a High Court Judicial review, all complaints were suspended awaiting the High Court Judgement.
However the investigation has now resumed and we received the STAGE 1 decision in July 2021.
The investigation is now at Stage 2
Absolutely. This is YOUR Pension that you paid into and you may not have been informed of the delay in time to plan for your expected retirement at 60. You may have been misinformed or the records held may be wrong. The test cases are currently with the investigation team at the Parliamentary Ombudsman and by law the process is confidential. Once the next stage findings are published these will be shared freely.
Once the next stages are published we will share updates on this website, and on our Twitter and Group Facebook pages. There are still a further two stages to complete.
Anything currently being published on social media that states otherwise is merely speculation or personal opinion so please wait for the official findings.
While there has been a finding of maladministration, this is only the first stage and the level of severity and compensation is still to be determined. Link to these here.
read the findings of the first stage here
Scotland, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2023 WASPIScotland - All Rights Reserved.