The WASPI debate is back in the spotlight. Campaigners say changes to the state pension age were introduced with insufficient notice, leaving thousands of women scrambling to adjust retirement plans. After a tense Commons exchange, pressure is building on the Department for Work and Pensions to address calls for compensation. The central question now: was there a failure in communication and if so, who should bear the cost?

The WASPI campaigners are continuing to fight for DWP compensation.

WASPI campaigners at a protest

WASPI campaigners have been fighting for over a decade to get DWP compensation (Image: Getty)
The WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has doubled down on its calls to get compensation. The campaigners have fought for over a decade to get payouts from the DWP for the millions of 1950s-born women affected by the increase in the state pension age for women, from 60 to 65 and then 66.

They claim that the DWP failed to properly inform the women of the change, with many of their retirement plans ruined when the found out at the last minute. They are awaiting the Government to issue a new decision on the question of how the issue should be remedied.

Labour announced in December 2024 that there would be no compensation, despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously recommending the women should get between £1,000 and £2,950, after they investigated the matter. However, ministers did accept the Ombudsman’s conclusion that there was ‘maladministration’ on their part, as they should have sent out letters to the women sooner.
Ministers reject Waspi calls for compensation after rethink - BBC News

Ministers then announced in December 2025 that they would re-take the decision. This was just before the DWP was due to appear in the high court for a judicial review of the original decision, which WASPI had applied for.

In the original decision, ministers also promised to implement an action plan to improve its communication efforts going forward, after the Ombudsman called for this to be improved in its report. But with little progress on this a year on, the Ombudsman wrote to the Work and Pensions Committee in January 2026 to say they had “serious concerns” about the lack of action.

Appearing before the committee on January 21, DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield explained the reason for the delay. He said: “There’s a formal, serious exercise going on, which is retaking a really important decision by Government.

“The action plan itself flows from a previous decision, that has now been retaken, so there’s a formal Government process here underway. That means I’ve got to stop work on the implementation of the previous decisions. That’s the formal position that I’m under.”

Representatives of WASPI were there in Parliament to watch the DWP give account. Speaking afterwards, WASPI campaign chair Angela Madden said: “We didn’t expect much from the committee meeting because it’s more to do with the performance of the DWP.”
But she said they will continue to push for compensation. She said: “Our focus will remain on encouraging the minister to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations in full rather than picking or choosing.”

The new decision is set to be announced by early March. This date was agreed as part of an out-of-court settlement between DWP and WASPI, to settle the judicial review claim.

WASPI has called on their supporters to email their MPs about the issue, to demand that they are finally awarded compensation.

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