The work and pensions committee has called on the government to bring proposals forward before the summer recess to provide compensation for Waspi women.
In a letter to work and pensions secretary of state Mel Stride, following an oral evidence session with the PHSO and Waspi campaigners, the committee focused on what a remedy might look like.
It said the evidence it received indicated support for payments to be based on the extent of change to an individual’s state pension age and the notice they received.
The committee also believed there should be some flexibility for individuals to make the case for a higher level of compensation based on experiencing direct financial loss.
In March, the PHSO ruled women affected by state pension age changes were owed compensation by the government.
This was part of an investigation looking into complaints which argued that since 1995 the DWP failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information about areas of state pension reform.
Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions committee, said: “The debate over the impact of the DWP’s failure to communicate increases in the women’s state pension age has dragged on for too long and it is time the government took action to resolve the issue.
“There is no perfect solution, but there would seem to be broad support for a rules-based system of compensation with a degree of flexibility for cases where women have experienced direct financial loss.
“While the ombudsman has put the matter in the hands of parliament, a remedy can only happen with the support of the government and we hope ministers will move quickly to bring forward its proposal before the summer.”
During the evidence session with the committee last week (May 7), Jane Cowley, campaign director for the Waspi campaign said any compensation scheme for Waspi women could not be “one size fits all”.
She said: “There would need to be a two pronged approach. One section of the scheme should operate swiftly and easily with the recommended level of compensation tailored to the length of notice a woman was given about the change to their state pension age. This can be easily put in place.
“The second prong of the scheme would be for more difficult cases and the ones that would potentially take longer to process because the individual case would need to be looked into in more detail.”
Cowley felt a completely individualised approach to compensation would take “far too long” and would cause huge delays.
alina.khan@ft.com
