The WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has doubled down on its work to get DWP compensation. This is despite being told by the Government there will be no payouts. Labour ministers addressed the Commons last week [January 29] to say there would be no compensation for the 1950s-born women represented by WASPI and other campaign organisations.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, told Parliament: “The evidence shows that the vast majority of 1950s-born women already knew the state pension age was increasing thanks to a wide range of public information, including through leaflets, education campaigns, information in GP surgeries, on TV, radio, cinema and online. To specifically compensate only those women who suffered injustice would require a scheme that could reliably verify the individual circumstances of millions of women.”

WASPI reacted to say the decision was a “disgraceful political choice” that showed “utter contempt” for the women. WASPI represents the generation of women who were impacted when the state pension age for women increased from 60 to 65 and then 66.

They claim that the DWP did not do enough to inform them of the change, with many unaware right up to the last minute, ruining their retirement plans when they found out.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously investigated the issue, finding there was ‘maladminstration’ on the part of the DWP as they should have sent out letters to inform the women sooner. They also recommended compensation for the women ranging from £1,000 to £2,950.

Labour issued a decision in December 2024 saying they would not provide compensation. They later took back this decision and said they would issue it again, as there was new evidence they wanted to consider. But in the new announcement, the Government restated that there would be no payouts.

Now the WASPI campaign is urging its supporters to write to their MPs to encourage them to call for a vote on the issue in Parliament. When the Ombudsman published their report, the watchdog urged for Parliament to take up the issue, and many MPs back the WASPI cause on an individual basis, as well as some of the political parties, such as the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

WASPI applied for a judicial review of the previous decision, but this was settled out of court after the Government announced it would retake the decision. Angela Madden, chair of the WASPI campaign, said the group is talking with its lawyers about possibly applying for another judicial review.

She said: “We would welcome it, if the lawyers think there is a different way to go, we would welcome that as well.” She said they should hear back from their lawyers soon.

If you want to lodge a judicial review of a decision such as this, it has to be lodged within three months. Ms Madden said: “The only people who can get this for us are Parliament. So we have to impress on Parliament that they simply must do it.

“The way the DWP has behaved is undemocratic. They are defending themselves, and the Ombudsman is so that we are protected from departments defending themselves.”

She said the campaigners feel “insulted” particularly as the Government’s decision relied on a 2014 survey suggesting the women would not remember getting a letter or would not read it if they had received it, and so sending out letters sooner would have made little difference.

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