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DWP WASPI state pension offset ‘too low’, MPs said

Compensation levels suggested for women affected by the way state pension changes were communicated are “on the low side”, a panel of MPs has said. The Work and Pensions Committee heard evidence following a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in March.

Angela Madden, chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign, told the committee: “We are pleased with the report, it has identified that there was maladministration: a big deal for us. It is identified that there should be compensations: big tick for us.




“He also tabled the report before Parliament, which we are very pleased with because we feel that Parliament is the right place for this decision to be taken. The level suggested in the report, we think is on the low side.”

The ombudsman’s report suggested that level four compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 could be appropriate for each of those affected.

Asked whether she believed the Department for Work and Pensions would accept the ombudsman’s finding of maladministration, Jane Cowley, campaign director for the group Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), told the Work and Pensions Committee: “I think the PSHO (Parliamentary Ombudsman and Health Service) has indicated that it considers this unlikely.

“I think that’s probably our point of view as well. I mean we only had a statement in Parliament saying they would consider the report. The DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) has had the draft report for some time.

“They have, again, taken quite a long time to consider the report once it has been published and it seems to us that they are playing for time and hoping to throw it into the long grass.”

Asked how important an apology was and who should make one, Waspi chair Angela Madden told the Work and Pensions Committee: “I think every party had a hand in what happened here.

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