WASPI DWP State Pension resolution deadline introduced
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed it will report its decision on State Pension age compensation soon
A decision on a review into State Pension age compensation for 1950s-born women will be “reported to the House before the beginning of March”(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Women who have long campaigned for compensation due to changes to their State Pension payments could soon get an answer. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has stated that a verdict regarding a review into State Pension age compensation for women born in the 1950s will be “reported to the House before the beginning of March”.
As reported by the Daily Record, Pensions Minister Torsten Bell delivered this update to MPs in Parliament on Monday (January 26) during a routine DWP oral questions session. Liberal Democrat MP Lee Dillon enquired whether DWP had conducted any evaluation of the “potential merits of compensating 1950s-born women affected by the maladministration of State Pension age changes”.
In response to the Newbury MP, Mr Bell stated: “As the Secretary of State (Pat McFadden) set out on 11 November 2025, we are re-taking the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age. We will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.”
Mr Dillon informed the House that he was among 100 MPs who had put their names to a cross-party letter urging the UK Government to act on behalf of the so-called WASPI women (Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign). He continued: “Such is the strength of feeling in my constituency that I am regularly contacted about this issue.”
Mr Dillon also queried whether discussions with the WASPI campaign formed part of the review process. The Pensions Minister replied: “As I said, we will update the House as soon as a conclusion is reached. We have committed in public to doing so within three months of the decision in December, which means a decision will be reported to the House before the beginning of March.
“I gently say that we need to be clear about what is at stake here: this decision relates narrowly to the question of the communication of the State Pension age changes.
“For many women, including many of my constituents, the issue they are actually most focused on is the increase, and the acceleration in the increase, in the State Pension age that was put in place by the coalition Government, which not a single Lib Dem MP voted against back in 2011.”
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Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Dyke pointed out that over 8,000 women throughout her Glastonbury and Somerton constituency have been impacted by alterations to the State Pension age, recounting how one woman “has lost a staggering £50,000” after being unable to continue working and having to sell her property. At 70 years old, Miriam has now returned to employment.
Ms Dyke continued: “Miriam and women like her deserve fairness. Will the Minister commit to properly compensating 1950s-born women, and will the Government consult with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman before finalising their response?” Mr Bell responded: “I know that many of our sympathies would be with Miriam. Many Members have constituents who face challenges in the years running up to the State Pension age and who are, for whatever reason, unable to work.”
Nevertheless, he emphasised that the £50,000 loss in earnings “does not relate to the issue of communication of the State Pension age” but instead concerns the “increase and acceleration in the State Pension age” which was implemented by a Liberal Democrat Government, and “not a single Liberal Democrat MP voted against it”.
Mr Bell continued: “It is important to be clear about what is and is not part of the PHSO’s investigation. As I say, it is very important that we take these issues seriously. We should not have seen an acceleration of the State Pension age where some women were only given five years’ notice, but that was put in place by the coalition Government. We will not be making those mistakes.”
WASPI correspondence to DWP
Last week, the WASPI campaign revealed that 100 MPs have backed a letter pressing the UK Government to “reach the right decision” for women born in the 1950s, who have been financially affected by alterations to the State Pension age.
The correspondence calls upon Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden to provide an update on proposals by 2 March “at the latest”.
In November, Mr McFadden indicated the DWP would revisit a previously stated policy against compensating 1950s-born women impacted by pension age increases introduced under successive administrations. This development followed court proceedings which unearthed a 2007 Department for Work and Pensions assessment that had previously prompted officials to discontinue the practice of dispatching automatic State Pension forecast correspondence.
Nevertheless, Mr McFadden provided no assurances to campaigners that the review would result in financial redress.
A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report had earlier recommended that compensation between £1,000 and £2,950 per person might be suitable for those impacted by the manner in which State Pension alterations had been conveyed.
However, in December 2024, the UK Government acknowledged the ombudsman’s determination of maladministration and issued an apology for delays in contacting women born in the 1950s, yet concluded that a universal compensation programme, potentially costing taxpayers as much as £10.5 billion, could not be warranted.
