DWP rejects call for interim compensation payment for 3.8m older women affected by retirement age

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has rejected a call from Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan to provide 3.8m women across the UK, who missed out on State Pension payments due to the change in retirement age, with an interim payment to help them through the ongoing cost of living crisis while a decision is made on the amount of compensation they are due.

Ms Morgan told the House of Commons on Monday: “Last July, the pensions ombudsman concluded that the Government had been too slow to inform many women that they would be affected by the rising State Pension age.

Along with the cost of living crisis, this means that many of the WASPI women (Women Against State Pension Inequality) are struggling to get by, and it is one of the concerns most frequently raised in my weekly surgeries. “I wonder whether the Secretary of State will commit himself to an interim payment for the women affected by the change in pension age while they wait for the release of the ombudsman’s final report.” Responding on behalf of the DWP, Pensions Minister Laura Trott MP said: “As the Honourable Lady knows, the investigation is ongoing, so it would not be appropriate to take any further steps at this stage.”The WASPI campaign identified around 3.8 million women born in the 1950s who suddenly found they would have to work many more years when the State Pension age was increased to 65 between 2016 and 2018 and then to 66, for both men and women across the UK in October, 2020.In July 2021, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled the DWP failed to communicate the changes with enough urgency, finding it guilty of maladministration, and is currently investigating the harm caused.Changes to the State Pension age, which were legislated