I wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Minister for Pensions alongside 91 MPs and Lords, calling for the Government to reconsider its rejection of compensation for 1950s women for maladministered state pension age changes.
The Parliamentary Health and Service Ombudsman (PHSO) clearly determined that compensation should be paid on the basis of ‘injustice’ and they advised that Parliament may wish to consider either an individual or flat rate compensation scheme. At no point in the report did they determine that issuing no compensation at all should be an option.
We believe that the PHSO’s advice to Government was clear and ignoring it is not only unprecedented, it also undermines the authority of the Ombudsman and sends a damaging message to the public about how the state responds when it gets things wrong.
Women pensioners have lost their homes and their savings, and their health has been impacted over this matter. The Government have rightly apologised for the wrong; now they need to put that wrong right.
Read my recent statement on the Government’s WASPI decision here: link
