Falkirk MP welcomes report saying Waspi women should get compensation over pension age changes

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report has asked Parliament to intervene and “act swiftly” to make sure a compensation scheme is established.

It comes after years of campaigning and legal challenges over how the retirement age for women was brought into line with men.

From 1948 until 2010, the state pension age was 60 for women and 65 for men. But a law passed in 1995 said the women's pension age would increase to 65 between 2010 and 2020 – later accelerated to 2018.

Campaigners from Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) say some women born in the 1950s were not aware of the changes to the retirement age. They have long argued many were plunged into poverty as they struggled to find work due to their age.

Falkirk MP John McNally has supported the Waspi campaigners throughout his time in Westminster.

Today he said: “At last, millions of women financially hurt by the UK Government state pension disaster are close to justice.

"I have long supported our campaigning Waspi women, short-changed by the Tories after a disastrous implementation of the pension age rise.

"These women have been struggling for years so I welcome the ombudsman report which finds ‘failings by the DWP’ and has rightly ruled that compensation is owed.”

The ombudsman said that, to date, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not acknowledged its failings, nor put things right for those affected.

It is estimated around 2.6 million women were affected by the change in the pension age, and the PHSO report suggests the payouts they should receive range between £1000 and £2950. If everyone got the upper end of that, the government would face a bill of up to £7.7billion.

However, campaigners, and some MPs, say the figure should be around £10,000 per woman.

In addition to paying compensation, the ombudsman made it clear the DWP should acknowledge its failings and apologise for the impact it has had on complainants and others similarly affected.

A DWP spokesman said: "We will consider the ombudsman's report and respond in due course, having co-operated fully throughout this investigation."