Women affected by change in state pension age ‘are owed compensation’, report finds
A long-awaited report on how women born in the 1950s were affected by increases to their retirement age has recommended they are owed compensation.
An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that thousands of women may have been adversely impacted by the government’s failure to adequately inform them of the change.
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To date, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not acknowledged its failings or put things right for those women, the watchdog said.
The ombudsman noted that the department has indicated it will not comply with the findings and called on parliament to intervene.
PHSO chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath, said: ”The UK’s national ombudsman has made a finding of failings by DWP in this case and has ruled that the women affected are owed compensation.
“DWP has clearly indicated that it will refuse to comply. This is unacceptable. The department must do the right thing and it must be held to account for failure to do so. ”
Ms Hilsenrath said that given the ombudsman’s “significant concerns” the DWP will not act on its findings, “we have proactively asked parliament to intervene and hold the department to account”.
She said: “Parliament now needs to act swiftly, and make sure a compensation scheme is established. We think this will provide women with the quickest route to remedy.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman said the government would now “consider the ombudsman’s report and respond to their recommendations formally in due course”.
A DWP spokesman echoed the response, adding: “The government has always been committed to supporting all pensioners in a sustainable way that gives them a dignified retirement whilst also being fair to them and taxpayers.
“The state pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so as we deliver a further 8.5% rise in April which will increase the state pension for 12 million pensioners by £900.”
The findings follow a long-running campaign by the Women Against State Pension Inequality – often known as Waspi women.
The group say millions suffered financially as they were not given sufficient warning to prepare for the change to their retirement age.
The ombudsman’s report suggested that, in the sample cases it has seen, women should receive compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 – Level 4 on the compensation scale.
However, the findings are not legally binding.
Waspi women ‘very disappointed’ in DWP
Angela Madden, chair of Waspi, told Sky News she wanted to see the government grant Level 6 compensation of £10,000 or more.
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Is Waspi compensation good enough?
While this would cost the exchequer around £36bn, she said the government “have saved £181bn by increasing the state pension age” for women.
“Had they told us, when they first decided in 1995 this was going to happen, we would have had 15 years notice,” she said.
“I got a letter in March 2012, two years before I expected to retire, and that letter told me I wasn’t getting my state pension until March 2020. I was absolutely devastated.
“I’d already given up work to spend time with my then ailing mother. I couldn’t unmake that decision and had [I] had the right information. I wouldn’t have made that decision.”
She added that she is “very disappointed in the DWP” and called on whoever wins the next election to act swiftly on compensation.
“It needs to happen soon as more than 270,000 women have died since we started this campaign”, she said.
Why was the state pension age changed for women?
The state pension age was aligned to match men in a move praised for improving gender equality.
For decades, men had retired at 65 while women had retired at 60.
A law was passed in 1995 setting out a timetable to eventually raise the retirement age for women so it would match the age for men.
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The original plan was to phase in the change over a 10-year period between 2010 and 2020 to allow people sufficient time to plan ahead.
However, in 2011 the coalition government accelerated the shift to reduce costs, with the increase in retirement age brought forward to 2018.
Waspi agrees with the equalisation of ages, but says they were not properly informed of the changes, giving them insufficient time to prepare or make other financial arrangements.
The ombudsman investigated complaints that, since 1995, the DWP has failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information about areas of state pension reform.
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It published stage one of its investigation in July 2021, which found failings in the way the department communicated changes to women’s state pension age.
The DWP’s handling of the pension age changes meant some women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances and diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control, the ombudsman said.
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain said Waspi women have “tirelessly campaigned for justice after being left out of pocket”.
She added: “Liberal Democrats have long supported Waspi in their campaign and it is now up to this Conservative government to come forward with a plan to get these women the compensation they are owed.”
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Politics
Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
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The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
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The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
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Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
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Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
Politics
Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill
A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.
She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.
“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”
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Details of end of life bill released
MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.
The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.
Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill
These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.
Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for a cost report into assisted dying. Pic: PA
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.
He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.
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Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.
It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.
Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.
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