Liz Kendall

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found in March 2024 that there was a 28-month delay in communicating changes to the state pension age to women born in the 1950s.

However, the UK government has rejected the watchdog’s call for compensation, saying it does not agree that sending letters earlier would have made a significant impact.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said yesterday that a compensation scheme would cost up to £10.5 billion and “cannot be justified when evidence shows 90% of women knew about State Pension age changes and letters would not have made a significant difference for those who were not aware”.

Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, told MPs yesterday: “Research given to the Ombudsman shows only around a quarter of people who are sent unsolicited letters actually remember receiving and reading them.

“So we cannot accept that – in the great majority of cases – sending a letter earlier would have affected whether women knew their state pension age was rising or would have increased their opportunities to make informed decisions.”

She added: “I know that – on this specific decision – many 1950s-born women will be disappointed.

“But we believe it is the right decision, and the fair decision.”