These women deserve an apology – but not a penny of compensation

IT was 1995 when the Pensions Act was passed and 1950s-born women were put on notice that their state pension age would rise from 60 to 65.

The timeline was set and it would not be until 2010 that the changes would start to come into force.

The law change was widely covered in the media and millions were fully aware and made appropriate changes to their own retirement plans.

Yet it is clear that some were not aware, and today, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed some women by not informing them sufficiently. The ombudsman says Waspis affected deserve an apology and compensation. But whose fault is it that these women were not aware of this major change?

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, announced in the Budget this month that the rate on capital gains would be cut from 28 per cent to 24 per cent, but the Treasury did not write to anyone to inform them of it.

Selling a property a day before the change is enforced could cost you thousands of pounds, but it is not the Government’s fault if you didn’t know.

Telegraph Money has heard that even DWP staff did not know of the change to their state pension age. There is no helping some people.

The ombudsman has said that blanket compensation could cost taxpayers up to £10billion. This comes at a time when the state pension is already costing taxpayers well over £100 billion every year.

And have these women been hard done by? It was the right thing to do to equalise the state retirement age among men and women.

Furthermore, women have a longer life expectancy than men, and will typically collect the state pension for much longer – meaning they receive tens of thousands of pounds more over the course of retirement.

Let’s also not forget that many Waspis will have been beneficiaries of gold-plated final salary schemes that they may well have been able to draw on from the age of 60.

And there were other benefits available to those who were unable to work while they waited longer than expected for their state pension.

Despite all the noise, the DWP should stick to its guns, acknowledge things could have been done better and apologise, but not pay a penny in compensation. It is not the Government’s responsibility to fund our retirements.