Page 15 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 123 - July 2024 - Binded

“WASPI calls on the Government to agree fair and fast compensation for all women affected by the lack
of notice regarding the State Pension age increases
(1995 and 2011 Pensions Acts) to reflect their financial losses,
the sustained damage to their mental health and well-being,
and the additional impacts.
We also call for the Government to act on the PHSO findings now to prevent any longer-term damage to
WASPI women.”

After much lobbying the WASPI campaign reached the UK Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman, who scrutinised how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communi-
cated changes to women’s State Pension. It found that;

“DWP then failed to act promptly on its 2006 proposal to write directly to affected
women, or to give due weight to how much time had already been lost since the
1995 Pensions Act. It did not ‘get it right’ because it did not meet the require-
ments of the Civil Service Code, and it did not take all relevant considerations into
account. And it failed again to use feedback to improve service delivery and ‘seek
continuous improvement’. That was also maladministration.”

A full report of the findings into both the changes in the SPa and the NI contributions can be
found;
https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/complaints-womens-state-pension-age

https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/publications/womens-state-pension-age-our-findings-
department-work-and-pensions-communication-0

The UK Parliamentary and Health Service in its landmark decision called for the UK govern-
ment to compensate WASPI women affected by the changes in the State Pension Age.
It is now a case of wait to see what happens next?

H Tucknott
BPW SYNE