WASPI campaign issues update ahead of high court battle | Personal Finance | Finance
WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners are getting ready for their courtroom battle with the DWP. The group has fought for over a decade to get DWP compensation for the 1950s-born women they represent.
The Government announced at the end of last year there would be no compensation, but the campaigners are hoping this decision will be overturned at the high court. A judicial review of the decision will take place in December.
If the decision is overturned, this will not guarantee the DWP will have to provide payouts, but it will overrule the reasons they gave for not granting compensation. WASPI campaign chair Angela Madden spoke about what happens next if the DWP decision is overturned and if the DWP could come up with a fresh line of reasoning for not providing payouts.
She said:”They certainly can’t use the same reasons from before because those reasons will have been deemed as unlawful. They can’t just do it.
“But they could review the report yet again and come up with something completely different.” The dispute revolves around the 1950s-born generation of women affected when the state pension age for women jumped up from 60 to 65 and then 66.
WASPI claim they were not properly informed of the decision by the DWP and that the department should have written letters to them sooner. But in announcing the decision last year. Labour said that sending out letters sooner would have made little difference, and that most women did know of the change.
Ministers also made the case that it would be a poor use of taxpayer funds to provide compensation. Ms Madden said that should the decision be overturned and the DWP can provide different reasons for not granting compensation, they should have set these out already.
She said: “Surely the time to do that would have been now, because if they had more reasons not to give us compensation, then they should have already voiced them. So they’ll be on a sticky wicket if they say the Ombudsman got it wrong again.”
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigated the case, concluding there was maladministration in the DWP‘s efforts to tell the women. The watchdog also recommended payouts ranging from £1,000 to £2,950 for the women.
The DWP did apologise for not sending out letters sooner but declined to offer any compensation. The judicial review of the DWP‘s decision will be heard at the high court on December 9 and 10.
A DWP spokesperson said previously about the judicial review: “We do not comment on live litigation. We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy and that is why we have decided not to pay compensation.”
