Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report

Baroness Bryan of Partick Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bryan of Partick (Lab)]

My Lords, I would like to ask a supplementary question. I first congratulate my noble friend on her new position. I am only sorry that it has come on the same day as this announcement and that she is thrown right into this difficult debate. I know she will be extremely aware that the very women who are most affected by the change in pension age and the delay in sending out notifications are the very same ones who were least aware of the changes. In many cases, they had already taken the decision to leave work, usually because of caring responsibilities, but with the expectation that they would receive their state pension on the date that they had been led to expect, and hopefully before their savings ran out. These women were probably the most isolated, care-worn and least able to access information online. In many cases, the letters came too late to allow them to make alternative plans.

Just because an injustice is widespread does not mean that it should be ignored. I repeat the question asked by the WASPI women today: what is the point of those six years of the ombudsman giving the report if the Government can simply ignore it?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her opening comment. I fully recognise the point that she is making. There will be women out there who are very disappointed. There will be many women who expected to retire at 60 and then found that they could not. I hope she will agree with me that one of the biggest drivers of that concern and of the impact was the decision of the previous Government to accelerate those state pension changes in 2011. That meant that they were brought forward very sharply, which had a significant impact on a number of women. However, that is not what the ombudsman was talking about today, it is not what the report was about, and it is not what we are doing here.

I should say at the outset that letters are only ever one part of any communications system. There was extensive communication. The ombudsman found that our communications between 1995 and 2004 were just as they should be. The ombudsman was also aware that a lot of other kinds of activity were going on. There were advertising campaigns, work with employers, and all sorts of information going out. The letters were only one small part of that.

The 28-month delay in those letters has led us to believe not that there are not women who had hoped to retire at 60 and were not able to do so, but that this injustice was not caused by the failure that we described. It is because of this that we simply do not feel able to do it. We had to come back to the evidence. Is the evidence there that that specific act of maladministration caused that injustice? We do not believe that it did, and therefore we do not believe that it was appropriate to provide a compensation scheme.