DWP issues WASPI women NEW public update over £2,950 compensation payouts

DWP issues WASPI women NEW public update over £2,950 compensation payouts

by · Birmingham Live

WASPI women have been handed a PUBLIC update from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) amid their quest for compensation payouts. In the Commons on Monday (December 16), the DWP's ministers were pressed ahead of Christmas recess.

A minister asked: "On December 4 my colleague the honourable member for Moray West asked the Prime Minister about WASPI women and was told the government was working at pace. Since then 14 or 1500 more women have died without justice of compensation. Can the minister tell us what 'working at pace' means and give us a timeline."

Emma Reynolds, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, responded, saying: "I thank him for that question. I was the first minister for eight years to meet with the WASPI campaigners to listen to their concerns. The ombudsman took six years to investigate six cases."

READ MORE All the dates in December snow will hit UK with England facing five days' worth

She added: "We are working at pace on this issue. We hope to come to the house soon to update him and the public on what we're going to do next." The PHSO have been investigating the way DWP communicated State Pension age changes from 1995 onwards impacting 1950s-born women. The Ombudsman published their report on 21 March 2024, the culmination of almost 6 years’ work, and said women could be owed £2,950 compensation.

As part of its consideration, the Government is listening respectfully to the women involved. The Minister for Pensions recently met representatives from WASPI Ltd, the first Minister to do so for 8 years, and has also met with the co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women and with the interim Ombudsman.

The government said previously in response to the WASPI fight: "This Government is absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve. The State Pension provides the foundation income for people in retirement."