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Campaigning for fair and fast compensation for 1950s women
TO DATE NO COMPENSATION SCHEME FOR 1950s WOMEN HAS BEEN SET UP.
THESE ARE THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS WE'RE ASKED MOST OFTEN.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman was set up over 50 years ago to independently investigate complaints about UK government departments. The Ombudsman is accountable to Parliament through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. The current Ombudsman is Rebecca Hilsenrath.
In March 2024 the Ombudsman published the FINAL REPORT https://waspicampaign2018.co.uk/phso-final-report-21%2F3%2F24 into the Department for Work and Pensions’ mishandling of communications around the changes to the State Pension age affecting women born in the 1950s. The Ombudsman found that there had been maladministration by the Department for Work and Pensions and recommended compensation at Level 4 on their Severity of Injustice scale (£1,000 to £2,950). However a number of MPs and campaign groups have argued that payment should be set at a higher level such as Level 6 (£10,000+).
No. Nothing has been agreed yet. Compensation has been recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, but it’s up to Parliament to come up with a plan.
A commitment to pay compensation was in the election manifestos of the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. It is also Green Party policy. However Labour, as the party in government, will have to start the ball rolling.
That is the Ombudsman’s assumption. However there may be different levels of payment for women born in different years who were affected to varying degrees.
Our hope is that payments will be made automatically to those affected (in the same way as the Winter Fuel Allowance). If there has to be some kind of application process involved, we will argue strongly that it should be kept as simple as possible.
Yes, because so many women were affected. But the Ombudsman says that limited resources should not be used as an excuse for failing to provide compensation.
We are campaigning for the rapid implementation of a scheme of fair and fast compensation, which should:
1. be simple to understand and administer, without requiring individuals to make complex claims;
2. not be subject to income tax;
3. not be means-tested;
4. not be taken into account in the calculation of means-tested benefits.
There are several scam websites going around at the moment pretending to provide compensation claim forms for WASPI women.
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THESE - THEY ARE PHISHING FOR YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
No compensation or compensation scheme has yet been agreed, unfortunately.
If you have given your personal data to a potentially fraudulent website please contact Action Fraud. https://www.actionfraud.police.uk
This table shows the position of the main parties as set out in their manifestos for the 4th July 2024 General Election.
A public opinion survey of over 2,000 adults undertaken for our sister organisation Women Against State Pension Inequality between the 3rd and 5th May 2024 revealed a high level of support for 1950s women’s call for compensation.
68% of respondents agreed that:
1) The Government should accept the conclusions of the Ombudsman’s investigation;
2) WASPI women have been badly let down by successive governments and the current government should have resolved this issue now;
3) WASPI women have waited too long for a resolution to the injustice they suffered.
Only 14% trusted Rishi Sunak to deliver fair and fast compensation for WASPI women and only 24% trusted Keir Starmer.
The WASPI Campaign 2018 welcomes the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman’s findings that maladministration by the Department for Work & Pensions in the way it handled the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age resulted in injustice, and that compensation should be paid to the women affected.
We find it scandalous that the Department has refused to accept that maladministration occurred or engage in discussions on compensation, and on that basis we acknowledge that the Ombudsman has no choice but to take what they describe as the “rare” decision to refer the issue directly to Parliament.
We would however take issue with the Ombudsman’s suggestion that the appropriate level of compensation would be Level 4 on the Severity of Injustice Scale (ie £1,000 – £2,950) and will be urging Parliament to look at a higher level of compensation that is both fair and fast to implement.
We expect all political parties to make a clear statement of their position on this issue after considering the Ombudsman’s report. WASPI women need to know where the main parties stand.
We continue to look for volunteers to email a copy of The WASPI BUZZ, our update for MPs, after the General Election, when new MPs will be in place. Parliament will be dissolved on May 30th so there will be no MPs but only Candidates.
If you’d like to volunteer, please email waspigroupnetwork@gmail.com with
1. your name
2. your email address
3. the name of your constituency (Please check boundary changes)
After the election, when our next issue of The BUZZ is ready, we will email it to you with instructions of how to forward it to your MP.
Thank you for your help.
The WASPI Campaign 2018 is run by volunteers who give their time freely to fight for and on behalf of 3.8 million women who have been affected by the changes to our State Pension Age.
You can make a donation via a bank transfer to the Waspi Campaign 2018:
Name of Bank: Barclays
Sort Code: 20-55-41
Account No: 40052590
These funds will go directly to the WASPI Campaign 2018 and will be used to promote the campaign nationwide.
Your donation will also help with running costs which we will, of course, keep to a minimum.
All donations, however big or small, are most gratefully received and will help us to continue our campaign to achieve justice for all the women affected.