WASPI calls for urgent debate

The WASPI campaign for women affected by changes to the state pension age (SPA) has called on Commons leader Penny Mordaunt to timetable an urgent debate and vote on compensation for the millions of women impacted by them.

As UNISON’s senior national equality officer Josie Irwin explained, changes to pension law in 1995 and 2011 delayed the SPA for women born in the 1950s, and just after, by up to six years. “Many received information about the change with just one year’s notice,” she said. “Some received no notification. An estimated 3.8 million women waited up to six years longer to receive the state pension.”

The campaign received a boost when the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman reported in March that the work and pensions department had failed to communicate the changes adequately and recommended Parliament make things right by providing compensation of between £1,000 and £2,900.

The campaign says it has had cross-party support from individual MPs, with a Bill previously put forward for the women to get payouts of £10,000 or more.

However, Irwin said that so far, “neither the Conservatives nor Labour have committed to paying the compensation”.