WASPI petition secures new debate on state pension changes

The Parliamentary Petitions Committee has decided to grant a debate to the 'WASPI' petition calling for 'Fair transitional state pension arrangements for 1950s women'. The debate will take place on 1 February.

Related topics:  Retirement
Rozi Jones
13th January 2016
Houses house of parliament commons government govt gov

Last week the petition, which gathered over 100,000 signatures, prompted a House Of Commons debate on the equalisation of the state pension age on women.

MPs supported SNP MP Mhairi Black's calls for the introduction of transitional arrangements for women negatively affected by the accelerated rate of equalisation.

Earlier this week, the Work and Pensions Select Committee called on DWP to make urgent changes to the information they are sending to people reaching retirement age.

WPC research suggested that confusion over what people will receive from the NSP – and when they will receive it - is 'rife'.
 
Tom McPhail, Head of Retirement Policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

"This is absolutely the right decision. The weight and momentum which this campaign has gathered warrants a full and considered response from the government. The government may believe that no policy adjustments should be made, however it should come to parliament, enter into debate and make its case. As part of this process, it should be possible to explore the options and costs of any potential transitional arrangement; without this debate, the obvious sense of injustice felt by many of these campaigners will only poison the forthcoming roll out of the New State Pension in April."

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