To receive and consider the recommendations of the Cabinet (Minute 214(b)) as an amendment to the following Notice of Motion submitted previously to the Council by Councillor Hannaford and referred thereto in accordance with Standing Order 8(2), namely;
Council notes that:
• In the 1995 Pensions Act, the Government increased State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, with a further increase to 66 in the 2011 Pensions Act.
• The change was not properly communicated to 3.8m women born in the 1950s until 2012, giving some only one year’s notice of a six year increase in their anticipated retirement age. 67,000 of the affected women are in our own authority area.
• The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found that the Department for Work and Pensions was guilty of maladministration in its handling of the State Pension Age increase for women born in the 1950s.
• The All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women has concluded that “the impact of DWP maladministration on 1950s-born women has been as devastating as it is widespread. The APPG believes that the case for category 6 injustice is overwhelming and clear. Women have had their emotional, physical, and mental circumstances totally obliterated by a lack of reasonable notice.”
• Research commissioned by campaign group WASPI has found that by the end of 2022, more than 220,000 1950s born women will have died waiting for justice since the WASPI campaign began in 2015.
• WASPI’s figures show that over the course of the two year COVID pandemic, 1 in 10 women who died was affected by these uncommunicated changes and lost both their state pension income and the opportunity to make alternative retirement plans.
• Despite the Ombudsman’s findings and the rapid death rate of those affected, the government is choosing to wait for further reports before taking any action.
Council believes this injustice has not only had a profound effect on the individuals involved but on the wider community in Devon and on local government, not least because:
• Women who would have looked after older relatives or partners are unable to afford to do so, with a knock-on impact on local social care
• Women who would have retired and engaged in caring responsibilities for grandchildren are having to continue working, increasing the childcare burden on the state locally
• Women who have been left in poverty are struggling to meet their housing costs, with a knock-on impact on local housing stock
• There is a broader impact on voluntary services of all kinds locally, which are missing out on able, active volunteers who would otherwise have been able to retire from full-time work as planned
• Our local economy is negatively affected by the reduced spending power and disposable income the uncommunicated State Pension Age changes has brough about among women born in the 1950s.
Council supports:
• The conclusion of the All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality that women born in the 1950s have suffered a gross injustice, affecting their emotional, physical and mental circumstances in addition to causing financial hardship.
• A swift resolution to this ongoing injustice before more and more women die waiting for compensation.
• The WASPI campaign for an immediate one-off compensation payment of between £11,666 and £20,000 to those affected, with the most going to women who were given the shortest notice of the longest increase in their state pension age.
Council asks:
The Leader of the Council to write to local Members of Parliament, and to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to outline the effects of the injustice to 1950s women on the communities in Devon and to seek their support for an immediate compensation package.
Having had regard to the aforementioned, any factual briefing/position statement on the matter set out in Report (CSO/22/14) and other suggestions or alternatives considered at that meeting the Cabinet subsequently resolved:
It is recommended that the Leader of the Council writes to each of the Devon Members of Parliament and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions supporting the July 2021 findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; highlighting the impacts on women in Devon and urging the Government to offer compensation as a matter of urgency.
Decision:
Councillor Hart MOVED and Councillor McInnes SECONDED that the Cabinet’s advice be accepted and that the Leader of the Council writes to each of the Devon Members of Parliament and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions supporting the July 2021 findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; highlighting the impacts on women in Devon and urging the Government to offer compensation as a matter of urgency.
The amendment in the name of Councillor Hart was then put to the vote and declared CARRIED and subsequently thereafter also CARRIED as the substantive motion.
Minutes:
(All Members of the Council had been granted a dispensation to allow them to speak and vote in any debate on this matter by virtue of being in receipt of or affected by any changes to the state pension provision)
Pursuant to County Council Minute 131 of 21 July 2022 relating to the Notice of Motion set out below as previously submitted and formally moved and seconded by Councillor Hannaford that:
Council notes that:
• In the 1995 Pensions Act, the Government increased State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, with a further increase to 66 in the 2011 Pensions Act.
• The change was not properly communicated to 3.8m women born in the 1950s until 2012, giving some only one year’s notice of a six year increase in their anticipated retirement age. 67,000 of the affected women are in our own authority area.
• The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found that the Department for Work and Pensions was guilty of maladministration in its handling of the State Pension Age increase for women born in the 1950s.
• The All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women has concluded that “the impact of DWP maladministration on 1950s-born women has been as devastating as it is widespread. The APPG believes that the case for category 6 injustice is overwhelming and clear. Women have had their emotional, physical, and mental circumstances totally obliterated by a lack of reasonable notice.”
• Research commissioned by campaign group WASPI has found that by the end of 2022, more than 220,000 1950s born women will have died waiting for justice since the WASPI campaign began in 2015.
• WASPI’s figures show that over the course of the two year COVID pandemic, 1 in 10 women who died was affected by these uncommunicated changes and lost both their state pension income and the opportunity to make alternative retirement plans.
• Despite the Ombudsman’s findings and the rapid death rate of those affected, the government is choosing to wait for further reports before taking any action.
Council believes this injustice has not only had a profound effect on the individuals involved but on the wider community in Devon and on local government, not least because:
• Women who would have looked after older relatives or partners are unable to afford to do so, with a knock-on impact on local social care
• Women who would have retired and engaged in caring responsibilities for grandchildren are having to continue working, increasing the childcare burden on the state locally
• Women who have been left in poverty are struggling to meet their housing costs, with a knock-on impact on local housing stock
• There is a broader impact on voluntary services of all kinds locally, which are missing out on able, active volunteers who would otherwise have been able to retire from full-time work as planned
• Our local economy is negatively affected by the reduced spending power and disposable income the uncommunicated State Pension Age changes has brought among women born in the 1950s.
Council supports:
• The conclusion of the All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality that women born in the 1950s have suffered a gross injustice, affecting their emotional, physical and mental circumstances in addition to causing financial hardship.
• A swift resolution to this ongoing injustice before more and more women die waiting for compensation.
• The WASPI campaign for an immediate one-off compensation payment of between £11,666 and £20,000 to those affected, with the most going to women who were given the shortest notice of the longest increase in their state pension age.
Council asks:
The Leader of the Council to write to local Members of Parliament, and to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to outline the effects of the injustice to 1950s women on the communities in Devon and to seek their support for an immediate compensation package.
and having had regard to the advice of the Cabinet set out in Minute 214(b) of 26 September 2022:
Councillor Hart MOVED and Councillor McInnes SECONDED that the Cabinet’s advice be accepted and that the Leader of the Council writes to each of the Devon Members of Parliament and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions supporting the July 2021 findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; highlighting the impacts on women in Devon and urging the Government to offer compensation as a matter of urgency.
The amendment in the name of Councillor Hart was then put to the vote and declared CARRIED and subsequently thereafter also CARRIED as the substantive motion.