Pat McFadden Rejects Compensation for Waspi Women After Review
McFadden told MPs a flat-rate payout could cost up to £10.3bn and he will not compensate about 3.8 million women born on or after April 6, 1950.
Overview
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told the House of Commons he will not establish a compensation scheme for women born on or after April 6, 1950, saying a flat-rate plan would cost up to £10.3bn.
The decision follows a review prompted by the emergence of a 2007 survey and McFadden said the government agreed with the Ombudsman's previous finding that "women did not suffer any direct financial loss from the delay," he told MPs in the House of Commons.
Campaigners representing affected women called for compensation and said the decision was unjust, according to statements from Waspi groups and opposition MPs who criticized the outcome.
About 3.8 million women would fall within the scope of some compensation proposals, and the department said a targeted scheme would be impractical because it could not reliably verify individual circumstances, ministers said.
McFadden pledged to check whether any other relevant documents were overlooked and said ministers will continue efforts to raise pension credit uptake, while campaigners said they plan further legal and political challenges.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources present this as neutral reporting: they report the government's rationale ('wasn't practical to set up compensation'), record the affected women's claim that they 'were not properly informed,' and state the decision to uphold. Contested assertions are attributed to sources and reporting uses factual, non‑evaluative language without partisan emphasis.