The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign has criticised a new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) action plan aimed at improving State Pension age communications, saying it is "no substitute" for compensation for women affected by changes to the State Pension age.
DWP Publishes Action Plan Following Ombudsman Investigation
The DWP has published a new action plan setting out how it intends to improve the way it communicates future changes to the State Pension age and handles complaints, following an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The Department said the plan focuses on learning lessons from the Ombudsman's investigation into historical communications with women born in the 1950s and establishes a new strategy for providing "effective, timely and modern" information about the State Pension.
Measures include improving communications about future State Pension age changes, encouraging people to check their State Pension forecast, strengthening complaints handling and making greater use of digital communications.
WASPI Chair: Plan 'Deeply Disappointing'
However, the WASPI campaign said the action plan does not address the Ombudsman's recommendation that affected women should receive compensation. Angela Madden, chair of WASPI, said: "The DWP's long-awaited action plan is deeply disappointing. The Government seems to believe that writing to people before their State Pension age changes is a new idea, but WASPI women received letters just one to two years before their pension age changed. Even now, letters are being sent to women born a decade later only one to three years before theirs changes. This is not progress."
She added: "It also reveals the DWP's contempt for the women it failed and its resistance to meaningful reform." Madden continued: "The Parliamentary Ombudsman knew the DWP would not accept its findings, which is precisely why it took the extraordinary step of laying its report before Parliament, leaving MPs to decide the fate of WASPI women harmed by the DWP's failures. Any attempt to learn lessons is no substitute for compensation which the Parliamentary Ombudsman has recommended ministers to pay."
Ombudsman Found Maladministration
The action plan follows the Ombudsman's investigation into the DWP's communication of State Pension age changes affecting women born in the 1950s. The Ombudsman concluded there had been maladministration in the way changes were communicated and recommended that Parliament consider a compensation scheme for women who suffered an injustice. The UK Government has previously rejected that recommendation, arguing that while there was maladministration in the way some communications were handled, there was insufficient evidence that it had caused a widespread injustice requiring compensation.
Industry Reaction: Positive Step but Lessons Still Needed
Welcoming the communications plan, David Brooks, Head of Policy at pensions consultancy Broadstone, said: "The DWP's action plan is a positive step towards ensuring people receive clearer, more personalised information about their State Pension age and any future changes. Good communication is essential, particularly given the importance of the State Pension in many people's retirement incomes and it suggests lessons have been learned from previous changes to the State Pension age."
The DWP said its latest action plan is intended to ensure future generations receive clearer and more timely information about their State Pension age, while improving the way complaints are handled and encouraging people to make greater use of online tools such as State Pension forecasts. The Department said the measures are designed to ensure lessons have been learned from previous failings and to improve communications if future changes to the State Pension age are introduced.
