Pressure is growing for the Government to finally act and decide on whether or not to grant compensation for the WASPI generation of women.
The WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) generation of women were majorly impacted by changes to their state pension age, when it increased from 60 to 65 to bring it in line with men.
The DWP did not properly advise the women of the change, throwing into disarray many of the women’s retirement plans.
Ministers have to decide whether or not to grant compensation, with many individual MPs backing calls for payouts.
One growing means of support is a petition to Parliament urging for the Government to “fairly compensate” the women, which has almost reached 130,000 signatures at the time of writing.
It’s now been more than two weeks since the petition crossed the 10,000 signature mark, meaning the Government will have to issue a response. As it has reached 100,000 signature, the matter will also be considered for debate in Parliament.
Many senior politicians recently signed a cross-party letter to the Government urging for action over the next couple of weeks.
The letter, signed by SNP leader Stephen Flynn, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and Green co-leader Carla Denyer, stated: “We urge you to update Parliament on your progress in responding to the PHSO’s report before the Christmas recess, setting out the likely scope of any compensation scheme and when it will commence.”
The campaign for payouts for the women already has the backing of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which published a report in March recommending compensation between £1,000 and £2,950.
Its top level of compensation payout is £10,000 or more, and MPs backing the campaign have previously said there should be compensation at this level.
Within the Labour Party itself, there are several big names who have previously come out in support of the campaign.
Work and pensions minister, Sir Stephen Timms, previously chaired the Work and Pensions Committee, which called for a payout scheme to be created. The current committee is chaired by Debbie Abrahams, who also supports the WASPI cause.
A bill was even been set before Parliament for a compensation programme by former SNP MP Alan Brown, which was due to have its second reading but this came to an end when the previous Government ended.
Commenting on the recent cross-party letter, WASPI campaign chair Angela Madden said: “WASPI’s calls for fair and fast compensation are backed by overwhelming numbers of people across the country, and a clear majority of MPs across party lines.
“The Government has shown it can do the right thing by compensating victims of the infected blood and Post Office scandals; however many will also be asking why WASPI women have been left waiting.
“Today’s action shows that it does not matter who is in Government – justice must be delivered and WASPI women are not going away.”
