Waspi women feel angry and betrayed by decision not to offer redress, MPs hear
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Waspi women feel angry and let down after the Government decision not to compensate women affected by the way changes to the state pension age were communicated, MPs have heard. The Work and Pensions Committee took evidence from Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners as part of its pensioner poverty hearing.
A previous report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PSHO), which looked into how changes to the state pension age were communicated, suggested compensation ranging between £1,000 and £2,950 could be appropriate for each of those affected.
But in December 2024, the Government said that, while it accepted the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and apologised for there being a delay in writing to 1950s-born women, a blanket compensation scheme, which could cost taxpayers up to £10.5 billion, cannot be justified.
Debbie de Spon, communications director of the Waspi campaign told the committee: “Waspi women are upset and angry and they feel let down and they feel betrayed and they don’t understand how it’s possible that findings of maladministration can have been shown but it doesn’t lead to redress for them.”.
Angela Madden, chairwoman of Waspi said: “We did plan for our retirement, mostly that’s what we hear from our members, we planned for our retirement, but we expected that retirement to start at 60. “And if you’ve already given up work in your late 50s, maybe in your mid-50s, depending on what your circumstances are, four, five, six years later, whenever you heard about the law changing, it’s very, very difficult to get back in.
