The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign has won a significant legal breakthrough. It means their judicial review claim against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can move forward.
WASPI had filed an application with the High Court to challenge the DWP’s decision that 1950s-born women should not receive compensation. The campaigners said previously that they needed a costs capping order to limit their liability for the DWP’s legal fees in case they lost, as otherwise they could face a huge bill.
Now the DWP has agreed to this order, capping WASPI’s liability at £60,000 and their own liability for WASPI’s costs at £90,000, if the High Court rules in WASPI’s favour. WASPI chair Angela Madden said: “This agreement – fully approved by the court – is a vital step forward in our legal campaign.
“Without this safeguard, we faced a real risk of financial ruin – of effectively being silenced by the threat of Government legal bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. We now have the certainty we need to press on – but the costs of fighting this case remain very real.
“Our expert legal team is showing they can and do win victories against the Government but it takes time and forensic presentation of our evidence – and that costs money. This is the fight of our lives – and we can’t win it without public support.”
WASPI campaign and what it is about
The WASPI campaign’s fundraising efforts for their legal battle have garnered over £220,000 so far from the public. The dispute centres around the generation of women born in the 1950s whose state pension age increased from 60 to 65 and then to 66.
They claim this was communicated inadequately by the DWP, leaving many oblivious to the extra years they’d have to wait for their pensions. An earlier report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that the DWP should have given these women earlier notice, suggesting compensation ranging between £1,000 and £2,950.
However, last year, Labour ministers dismissed the idea of payouts, saying it would be an imprudent use of taxpayer funds and arguing that most affected women were aware of the changes to their state pension. Despite the key step forward in WASPI’s legal endeavour, a judicial review could be months away from a court date.
Ms Madden pointed out previously that even a court triumph does not assure any compensation. She said: “It doesn’t matter even if we win the case, the Government probably still won’t want to pay what they should or what has been recommended.
“What we are hoping is that more and more MPs will come across to the side of what is right to be done, rather than voting with the Government.” Several MPs personally back the campaign while parties like the Liberal Democrats, SNP, and Green Party have adopted it as a stance that compensation should be awarded.
A DWP spokesperson said previously: “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, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy and that is why we have decided not to pay compensation.”
