Jess Brown-Fuller MP urges government to reconsider WASPI compensation verdict

Jess Brown-Fuller, MP for Chichester, has added her name to a cross-party letter from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women urging the Government to engage with affected women and reconsider its decision not to award compensation. 

This follows the recent announcement that the government has once again chosen to reject compensation for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes to the state pension age. The decision comes despite findings by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), published in March 2024, that maladministration and injustice had occurred, and that compensation should be provided as a result. 

The letter highlights that the PHSO clearly determined that compensation should be paid due to injustice and at no point suggested that not issuing compensation was an option.  It also makes clear that ignoring the PHSO’s advice is unprecedented, undermines the authority of the ombudsman, and sends a damning message to the public about how the state responds when it gets things wrong.  

The Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of this issue and have for years pushed the Government to ensure that women born in the 1950s are finally treated fairly and properly compensated. Ahead of the government’s verdict, Jess wrote directly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden MP, calling on the government to act on the findings of the PHSO, and added her name to a major cross-party letter calling on the government to finally deliver compensation to women affected by changes to the state pension age.   

Jess’s most recent letter can be found in full below: