The Department for Work and Pensions has issued a fresh update on compensation for so-called Waspi women, with millions still waiting to find out whether they will ever see a payout, according to the Mirror.
The row centres on women born in the 1950s who say they were not given proper notice that their state pension age was being pushed up from 60 to 66. Many of them had planned their finances around retiring at 60 and were left thousands of pounds out of pocket when the change kicked in without warning.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman ruled in 2024 that the DWP had committed maladministration in the way it communicated the shift. The watchdog recommended individual payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each woman affected, with the exact figure depending on the impact.
Ministers later rejected a blanket compensation scheme, arguing it would cost the taxpayer billions of pounds and saying that most women already knew about the rising pension age. The Waspi campaign group puts the number of women caught up in the dispute at around 3.6 million.
Waspi has refused to back down and has been pressing on with legal action. Its supporters argue that the government's stance flies in the face of the ombudsman's findings and leaves a generation of women without the redress they were told they should receive.
For the women themselves, many of whom are now in their seventies, the wait has taken a heavy toll. Campaigners have repeatedly warned that some claimants have already died while the case rumbles on, with no payment ever reaching them.
Pension experts say the bill for full compensation could run into the tens of billions of pounds, which is part of the reason successive ministers have been wary of agreeing to a scheme.
With this latest DWP update now in circulation, attention will turn once again to whether the government is preparing to soften its position or whether the courts will be left to settle the matter.