The Women Against State Pension Inequality group is seeking a judicial review to force the Government to reconsider its decision to rule out a compensation package
WASPI campaigners are set to rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London this coming Monday, as they intensify their fight for compensation.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group is pushing for a judicial review that could compel the Government to reassess its refusal to offer a compensation scheme for women who were negatively impacted by the unclear communication of changes to the state pension age.
An earlier study from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) indicated that a fair compensation amount might fall between £1,000 and £2,950 for each woman affected.
However, in December 2024, the Government acknowledged the ombudsman’s findings of maladministration and issued an apology for the delayed communication to women born in the 1950s. Despite this, it held firm on rejecting a mass compensation plan, which would saddle taxpayers with an estimated £10.5 billion bill.
According to the campaigners, over £150,000 has been gathered recently to support a High Court challenge.
WASPI chair Angela Madden stated: “We do not want to be taking legal action, but we have been forced to, due to the Government’s total denial of justice.”
The campaigners’ legal team contends that the government’s rationale for denying any form of recompense represents a violation of legal norms.
WASPI has announced that their solicitors, Bindmans, dispatched advance legal communication, known as a letter before action, and papers for judicial review are now being filed.
The group is anticipating an early court session may follow at a subsequent date.
Angela Madden, chairwoman of WASPI, said: “The Government has an opportunity now to get around the table and engage meaningfully with us. If they don’t, they will have to continue to defend the indefensible, but this time in front of senior judges.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on live litigation.
“We accept the ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006 90 per cent of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing.
“The Government cannot justify paying for a £10.5 billion compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.”
