Labour issues WASPI compensation update after debate 'drags on too long'

Commons leader Lucy Powell has responded to calls for financial redress for Waspi women.

There are calls for immediate WASPI compensation payouts worth £2,950 from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) because the debate has "dragged on too long". Commons leader Lucy Powell has responded to calls for financial redress for Waspi women.

She stated: "The Ombudsman has established that the DWP did not properly inform the Waspi generation women of the change. The group published a report in March saying the women should get payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950."

Labour Party MP Ms Powell added that the Government is taking time to review the Ombudsman's report due to its significance and complexity. Sir Stephen Timms (now a DWP minister), backed calls for the Government to establish compensation plans.

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Sir Stephen previously stated: "The debate over the impact of the DWP's failure to communicate increases in the women's state pension age has dragged on for too long and it is time the Government took action to resolve the issue."

Angela Madden, the chair of the Waspi campaign, has also issued a response to the latest developments. "It's in the Ombudsman's report: we didn't get sufficient information, we weren't informed correctly of the impact of pensions changes on us," she said.

She said: "The Ombudsman has said we deserve compensation and an apology. That is quite clear." WASPI was set up to help women who have been negatively affected by their pension age going up, after not being properly notified about it.

Affected women, born in the 1950s, say they were not correctly informed by the Government that their State Pension age would increase by more than five years. Back in March the Ombudsman ruled that WASPI women should be issued compensation of up to £2,950, with Parliament told to "act swiftly" in issuing the cash. But no payouts have yet been made.