Update 6th February: I joined 91 other MPs and Lords in writing to the Secretary of State asking the government to reconsider its rejection of compensation for 1950s women for maladministered state pension age changes. You can read the letter in full here.
I empathise with all the women who were left in the lurch by the previous government’s decision to increase the state pension age for women born in the 1950s, at short notice and with no safety net for the women affected.
I repeatedly called on Ministers under the previous government to do right by the women harmed by their pension changes; however, they never did.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigated this injustice over a 6-year period and, in March 2024, it published its final report.
The report found the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guilty of maladministration, due to a 28-month delay in properly informing women about the rise in their state pension age. The PHSO recommended that affected women should receive compensation.
However, in December 2024, the then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, said that the Government would not be providing compensation.
Immediately after this announcement, I wrote to Ms Kendall and asked her to reconsider this decision and for the opportunity to meet to discuss the issue further, and the impact that the maladministration had had on women in Bolton South and Walkden.
In July 2025, I met with the Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell, and made it clear how strongly I, and many of my constituents, feel about this injustice. I urged him to revisit the Government’s response.
I was therefore pleased to hear the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, announce that the Government will review its decision not to provide compensation to the women impacted by this change.
The Secretary of State stressed that the review should not be taken as an indication that the Government will necessarily decide to provide compensation. However, this review has been welcomed by the WASPI campaign as “a major step forward”.
It is undoubtedly true that this review would not be taking place if it weren’t for the continued campaigning of the women who were directly impacted by the pension change. I therefore pay tribute to their continued efforts.
I can assure you that I will continue to follow developments with this review closely. I will not stop fighting for what’s right; the WASPI women contributed to the system in good faith, and they deserved better. I remain committed to seeing justice done.