A government minister has given Parliament an update on the WASPI women’s compensation campaign, who have been affected by changes to the state pension age, and promised to return with more information “in the coming weeks.”

The WASPI organization, representing Women Against State pension Inequality, advocated for fair payments following the government’s ombudsman’s decision against the government.

In March this year, the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) published its report, recommending compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for affected women due to the government’s insufficient reporting of the situation. state pension increasing age.

This problem affects 3.8 million women born between April 6, 1950 and April 5, 1960, including State pension The age increased from 60 to 65 and then to 66.

Yesterday (November 11), during Department for Work and Pensions Questions in the Commons, Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling asked: “All members of this chamber are aware of the Wasp Women campaign and the Ombudsman’s findings parliamentary. Will the Secretary of State commit before Christmas? to this meeting so that it can come and make a statement on the progress of its examination of this mediator’s report.

Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds responded: “I thank the honorable gentleman for that question. As he knows, the Ombudsman took six years to examine a series of complex cases, and we are examining the complexity of these cases. the first minister in six years to meet representatives of the Wasps campaign. We hope to update this home in the coming weeks.

The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman published his final report in March, stating that the DWP failed to adequately inform women of the increase in the pension age to 65, in line with the Pensions Act 1995. However, it gave adequate warning regarding the impact of the Act on pensions 2011, which further raised the age to 66.

WASPI and other campaigners are urging the government to compensate women born in the 1950s who have been affected by the surge in numbers. state pension the age of 60 to 65 years. The PHSO suggested that compensating everyone affected would cost between £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion.

Recently, Pensions Minister Ms Reynolds revealed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) looked at the potential costs of setting up a compensation system for those affected. In her written response, Ms. Reynolds noted that during the DWPA review of the Ombudsman’s findings found that the estimated cost of compensating all women in tier four – which is between £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion – did not include administrative costs.

The Pensions Minister said: “As part of our work on the investigation and the Ombudsman’s report, we have examined the costs of setting up a compensation system. The Mediator used DWP” in its report published on March 21, 2024, stating that “compensating all women born in the 1950s at Level 4 would involve expenditure of between approximately £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion of public funds.” This estimate excludes administrative costs.

She added: “This Government is fully and properly considering all aspects of the Ombudsman’s report. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be able to define our approach. »