The Work and Pensions Committee has published
correspondence from Minister for
Pensions on the DWP’s approach to repaying historic
underpayments of the state pension.
The letter is in response to several
questions asked by the Committee last month, including on the
scale of underpayments, the amount of arrears repaid so far and
how cases are being investigated.
Commenting on the letter, Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee,
said: “The scale of this problem is staggering—it’s likely to
affect tens of thousands of women and to cost some £3 billion
pounds to fix. The government has a duty to be transparent with
Parliament and the public about the progress it is making on an
exercise of this magnitude. The Minister says that there will be
more information at the next fiscal event—but that isn’t likely
to happen for another six months or more.
“Having created this problem, DWP ought to be offering a gold
standard service to pensioners and their families. Instead, the
Department refuses to engage with reports of people having
difficulty getting through on the phone line or receiving
incorrect advice when they do. Too many cases have needed the
intervention of journalists, professional advisers or
high-profile figures to be resolved. It’s simply not good
enough.
“We will continue to press for better and quicker answers
from the Department.”
The Minister was also questioned on state pension underpayments
when he appeared before
the Committee in January.
