- Conference
- 2025 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 6 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference welcomes the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report dated 21 March 2024 entitled ‘Women’s State Pension Age’ which considered the impact of the arbitrary change in state pension age and its effect on women born after 6 April 1950.
We note the level of compensation recommended by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman recommended Level 4 compensation (£1000 – £2950) due to “the lasting impact on someone affected”;(paragraph 504 of the report which is estimated to total between £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion). While recognising that this does not meet the expectations of many WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women it is nevertheless a major step forward.
Conference expected the new UK government to instruct the Department of Work and Pensions to pay the recommended compensation as a matter of urgency. However, on 17 December 2024, the government announced that no compensation would be paid to WASPI women.
This decision was a cruel blow to a generation of women, some of whom are now suffering severe financial distress. It came as a shock particularly given pre-election support from Labour for the WASPI campaign, including those in leadership positions.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to work with National Retired Members’ Committee and the National Labour Link Committee to lobby and campaign for immediate payment of the compensation that WASPI women expected.