Council
notes that:
-
In the 1995 Pensions Act, the Government increased
State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, with a further increase
to 66 in the 2011 Pensions Act.
-
The change was not properly communicated to 3.8m
women born in the 1950s until 2012, giving some only one
year’s notice of a six year increase in their anticipated
retirement age. 5940 (5% of population of West Lancashire) of the affected women are in our own authority area.
-
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
(PHSO) has found that the Department for Work and Pensions was
guilty of maladministration in its handling of the State Pension
Age increase for women born in the 1950s.
-
The All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension
Inequality for Women has concluded that “the impact of DWP maladministration on
1950s-born women has been as devastating as it is widespread.
The APPG believes that the case for category 6 injustice is
overwhelming and clear. Women have had their emotional,
physical, and mental circumstances totally obliterated by a lack of
reasonable notice.”
-
Research commissioned by campaign
group WASPI has found that by the end of 2022, more than 220,000
1950s born women will have died waiting for justice since the WASPI
campaign began in 2015.
-
WASPI’s figures show that over
the course of the two year COVID pandemic, 1 in 10 women who died
was affected by these uncommunicated changes and lost both their
state pension income and the opportunity to make alternative
retirement plans.
- Despite
the Ombudsman’s findings and the rapid death rate of those
affected, the government is choosing to wait for further reports
before taking any action.
Council believes this injustice has not only had a
profound effect on the individuals involved but on the wider
community in West Lancashire and on local government, not least
because:
·
Women who would have looked after older
relatives or partners are unable to afford to do so, with a
knock-on impact on local social care
·
Women who would have retired and engaged
in caring responsibilities for grandchildren are having to continue
working, increasing the childcare burden on the state
locally
·
Women who have been left in poverty are
struggling to meet their housing costs, with a knock-on impact on
local housing stock
·
There is a broader impact on voluntary
services of all kinds locally, which are missing out on able,
active volunteers who would otherwise have been able to retire from
full-time work as planned
·
Our local economy is negatively affected by the
reduced spending power and disposable income the uncommunicated
State Pension Age changes has brough about among women born in the
1950s
Council supports:
·
The conclusion of the All Party
Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality that women born in
the 1950s have suffered a gross injustice, affecting their
emotional, physical and mental circumstances in addition to causing
financial hardship.
·
A swift resolution to this ongoing
injustice before more and more women die waiting for
compensation.
·
The WASPI campaign for an immediate
one-off compensation payment of between £11,666 and
£20,000 to those affected, with the most going to women who
were given the shortest notice of the longest increase in their
state pension age.
Council asks:
- The Leader
of the Council to write to local Members of Parliament, and to the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to outline the effects of
the injustice to 1950s women on the community in West Lancashire
and to seek their support for an immediate compensation
package.