The Ombudsman said the women should get up to £3,000 each
A high-ranking DWP minister has given an update on compensation for the WASPI women (Women Against State Pension Inequality). Labour ministers declared in January that there would be no compensation for the generation of women born in the 1950s who were affected by the increase in the state pension age for women, from 60 to 65 and then 66.
The WASPI campaigners argue that the women were not adequately informed of the change in advance, with many remaining unaware until the last minute. Many of these women claim their retirement plans were shattered when they discovered the news. However, Labour announced in January 2026 that there would be no payouts. A previous investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found ‘maladministration’, as the DWP should have sent a letter to the women earlier.
Yet ministers argued that sending out letters earlier would have made little difference, and that most women were aware their state pension age was increasing. They dismissed the Ombudsman’s recommendation that the women should receive compensation ranging from £1,000 to £2,950.
A different conclusion
DWP minister Torsten Bell was recently questioned by an MP committee about the Government’s decision to disagree with the Ombudsman’s ruling that there should be payouts. This was despite Labour ministers acknowledging there was maladministration and apologising for the mistakes.
Mr Bell told the Work and Pensions Committee: “It is unusual, but not unprecedented, for us to come to a different conclusion from them. It is clearly for the PHSO to come to judgments on maladministration, and we have reflected that in how we have engaged with it.
“We have obviously come to a different view on remedy, and we have set out the reasons for that at great length.” The minister told the MPs that the Government holds the PHSO in high regard.
Regular meetings
Mr Bell said: “However, I do not think that should be taken to say anything about the seriousness with which we take the PHSO generally. It is not just me meeting with the PHSO; the permanent secretary has and there are regular meetings at the moment with them on our action plan and the rest.
“On the broader importance of the PHSO, which provides an important route for those who have exhausted other sources of complaints processes, it has a really important role to play. I have made that very clear to the PHSO myself.”
The state pension age is set to rise again, gradually increasing from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028. The access age will further increase from 67 to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
