A ruling by the Parliamentary Ombudsman has determined that the Government were too slow to tell many women they would be affected by the rising state pension age, meaning millions of women born in the 1950s did not have enough time to make alternative arrangements for their retirement. The ruling is hoped to have moved closer to ensuring these women receive some form of compensation.

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, said, “I have been a proud supporter of the WASPI women for years, and I have seen the devastating financial and emotional impact of the Government’s unfair changes to their pensions. The Ombudsman has made it clear that there was maladministration from the DWP and this has had an unfair impact on millions of hardworking women.”

When the changes to State Pension age were introduced in 2011, raising the retirement age for women to 66, some women were given as little as one year’s notice that they wouldn’t get their pension for another six years. The Ombudsman has determined that the Government should have written to the women affected at least 28 months earlier than it did.

Toby added, “The manner in which the WASPI women were treated has left them at a massive disadvantage, costing many over £30,000 from their pensions as a result. Now the Ombudsman has reached a verdict, they will assess the impact of this gross injustice and make recommendations on how the Government should put things right. But the government must acknowledge that with every year that goes past some WASPI women die having never received their full entitlement, whilst others struggle on, unable to live the quality of retirement they should have been entitled to. This is a major step in the campaign, but not the end of the fight. I will continue to proudly support the WASPI women in this fight.”

Toby with the Derbyshire WASPI women at the House of Commons in 2017
Toby with the Derbyshire WASPI women at the House of Commons in 2017
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