Overview
- The Department for Work and Pensions published an action plan on Thursday that accepts the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman finding of maladministration for delays sending letters between 2005 and 2007 and includes an official apology to affected women.
- DWP says it began sending letters from June 2025 to people whose State Pension age is 67 and will continue direct mail to explain exactly when individuals can first claim and how to check their pension forecast.
- The package includes a national awareness campaign using TV, radio, social media and outdoor ads, a new stakeholder working group, public testing of correspondence and a formal system to feed complaints into service design.
- The department has pledged digital improvements such as clearer State Pension forecasts, easier access to National Insurance records and stronger links to Pensions Dashboards to help people plan ahead.
- Campaigners remain unsatisfied because the government refuses to pay the PHSO‑recommended compensation for WASPI‑era women, and critics warn past rises in State Pension age have driven measurable increases in pensioner poverty.