Campaigners have asked the new prime minister and chancellor to discuss redress for 3.5 million women affected by failures to communicate changes to the state pension age.
Angela Madden, chair of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), has written to prime minister Andy Burnham and chancellor John Healey seeking urgent talks over compensation for women born in the 1950s.
Burnham agreed to meet with campaigners to discuss their case as an MP, in comments made during the Makerfield by-election that he won, paving the way for his appointment as prime minister.
In a letter dated 4 August, Madden asked the new government to work with campaigners on a form of redress that would be fair to affected women and the taxpayer.
“WASPI has always been a pragmatic campaign and with a new operation in Downing Street, we are absolutely determined to find a solution that is fair to both affected women and the taxpayer.”
Angela Madden, WASPI
Madden said: “While recognising the new prime minister has a long list of things to fix, we are now asking him, alongside the chancellor, to make good on that promise, and to sit down with WASPI to determine what redress for 1950s-born women looks like.”
WASPI campaigns on behalf of women born in the 1950s who it says were not given adequate notice of increases to their state pension age, leaving some without enough time to adjust their retirement plans.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that maladministration caused a 28-month delay in the Department for Work and Pensions beginning to write directly to affected women. It said it would have recommended payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 for six sample complainants.
The previous government accepted the finding and apologised, but rejected a compensation scheme, a stance so far maintained by the Labour government.
Madden said WASPI wanted early input from the chancellor on options that were viable within the constraints of the public finances.
She added: “WASPI has always been a pragmatic campaign and with a new operation in Downing Street, we are absolutely determined to find a solution that is fair to both affected women and the taxpayer.”
