UPDATE: Papers have now been served on Mel Stride, Secretary of State for work and pensions, and the DWP for acting unreasonably in refusing to agree to mediation over the issue of the six year delay to 1950s women’s pensions. The ministry will now have 21 days to file a response and then the case will have to go to court.
The Government’s attitude in not recognising there is a problem chimes well with their handling of the Post Office postmaster’s scandal and in delaying compensation for people hit by the contaminated blood scandal. Their attitude to my mind suggests there is a Whitehall playbook to avoid paying people any compensation for as long as possible, probably drawn up by Government lawyers, in the hope that many people will be dead before the inevitable pay out is made.
Since the publication of this blog the DWP has confirmed it is now involved in litigation with CEDAWinLAW but does not wish to comment about it.
But interestingly Rob Behrens, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, has pulled back from his threat to pause his investigation ( see below). He now says he will review the position only if the courts give permission to CEDAWinLAW to bring a judicial review. This means the confidential consultation will continue until January 19 and the report is still scheduled to be published on March 23.
The legal battle against Mel Stride, the work and pension secretary, over his refusal to consider mediation in the long running dispute over50s women pensions has begun.
Papers were lodged at the High Court yesterday by lawyers representing the campaigning group .CEDAWinLAW on behalf of 3.5 million people who faced a six year delay to receiving their pension.
In a statement the organisation said:
“CEDAWinLAW earlier instructed Professor John Cooper KC, ‘One of the Top 10 influential lawyers in the UK’, 25bedfordrow.com and David Greene, Senior Partner, edwincoe.com to represent ALL 1950’s Women in a judicial review against the Secretary of State for Work & Pensions in relation to the DWP’s refusal to mediate following from the Judge’s Report which sets out in depth the way in which those affected have enforceable rights which have been breached.
We are delighted to announce today that our legal team has issued at the court an Application for a Judicial Review in the matter which, in turn, is now being served on the Respondent.
Included as part of the lodged Application & Bundles, an expert witness statement authored by The Hon Dr Jocelynne Scutt AO, the former Australian judge, who produced a report on the discrimination faced by 50s women.
Please kindly donate to meet our legal team costs and @crowdjustice platform fees. The link is :https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/group-class-action/ “
The lodging of the papers will mean the Department for Work and Pensions will have to lodge a response to the new judicial review breaking their silence over the matter and their refusal to contemplate any mediation over the matter.
What the position of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Robert Behrens, to this new development is not entirely clear. He is handling a separate case involving maladministration and is currently consulting in confidence over 500 people and the six complainants on his final report until January 19. His plan was to publish it on March 23 just a few days before his retirement. His main findings and the Department’s response to him were published on this blog here and here.
During a hearing with the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in November Mr Behrens in a reply to Ronnie Cowan, the Scottish National Party MP for Inverclyde, said:
“It is not in our hands, Mr Cowan, to be able to be definitive about what the end date is going to be. If there is further litigation, then that will delay the process even further. That is out of our
hands.”
It now is and his reaction and the DWP’s reaction to this new development is awaited.
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£10.00
Westminster Confidential 
Dear David Hencke
Thank you for your excellent efforts about pensions
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I hope things work out in the end for these poor women and they get what they deserve. Meanwhile, justice delayed is justice denied and no matter how illegal, irrational, and procedurally improper Mel Stride’s decision was, this grubby corrupt country will act to protect its own interests, never mind truth and justice. I found this out for myself the hard way:
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OVER 50s CLASS ACTION INFO
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Stride wasn’t the instigator and I’d rather have the initial perpetrators of injustice to #50sWomen answerable to take their ineptitude in regard to the utmost harm they have inflicted toward a minority. However, the ‘buck’ is currently with Mr Stride in his limited capacity as a ‘yes’ government person. I appreciate UK courts are silent in deference to ruling government who ‘inadvertently’ dictate the outcome of preference. My dubious thoughts of further acknowledgement by truthful judgemental legal means are not currently government appropriate. Government law is their law?!
Can #50sWomen and families be assured their rights are truly catered for legally! If not, this is near the last bastion of resource for those who have plowed their last tenner/fiver to an injustice. The apathy fron All political parties re injustice is puzzling. Perhaps the#50sWomen stolen £billions are kept in reserve for restitution heh! This #50sWomen destitution – dead, dying, and & current deserve/demand their rights!
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You have it in one big nutshell. Your comments about previous non helpers spot on. Too many Prime Ministers that choose to ignore.
I cannot believe the injustice. But, have learnt that nothing is listened to or is worthy of what is left of my head space.
The sheer length of time has left many deceased, physically shot and mentally harmed.
I await with the knowledge that there is restitution. Us women are not liars.
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Stride is certainly the instigator and has full responsibility.
You may remember that we women from Back to 60 were asked to contact our MP to ask him/her to sign-or at least agree to- the papers we were given to send to them.
I live in the constituency that he represents.
I wrote to him-with the letters we were given to send – several times on these occasions.
I received one harsh reply.
He had no intention to be civil , no intention to support us in any way or at least say that he would look into it.
I saw him once at small event at a Park Home village, and he seemed totally displeased that he had to be there st all.
He was there for 5 minutes max, and was whizzed away in a large, smart, new car.
This was shortly before voting was due the following month.
Not to be trusted. Needs to be kicked out.
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Isn’t the mere fact that women’s pensions were delayed by 6 years and men only had to wait one year after they expected to get their pensions discrimination in itself? If they would have staggered women’s pensions a year at a time wouldn’t that have been a fairer way to do it?
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My name is Ms Marina Shaw born 27/10/1954 My address is; 7 Moubray Grove South Queensferry Edinburgh Eh30 9PB
Dear Sir/Madam
I have worked hard all my life. I was very young when I worked on a farm in Edinburgh, then in the Civil Service at fifteen, married a Tunisian husband in 1977 and then had a daughter in 1981 and my son in 1986 who died at the age of 21. My husband returned to Tunisia in 2007 and I was left with my children and working in social work. I have worked totally as a single parent and now have three young grandchildren. I will donate the £10.00. Kind regards Marina
If
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Thanks Marina for both your comment and donation.
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I’m guessing by the time this goes to court Mel stride will be out on his ear like the rest of the Tories . Does this case then pass to the next DWP representative
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As far as I know Yes.
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Maybe a TV documentary like the post office
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David ! I would very much like to make a donation to help fight this , but I make a point of not sending my bank card details out over the Internet ! That is why I use PayPal ! Can you not contact the Criwdfunding people to have this as an option? There must be a lot of other who have similar reservations !
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The media is currently referring to the appalling behaviour of the Post Office as the ‘worst’ or ‘biggest scandal. It is indeed an unbelieveable scandal but this appalling life-changing behaviour was only perpetrated on hundreds of people. How can the ‘crimes’ perpetrated against 3.8 miliion women only, whilst giving special dispensation for men, depriving them of 6 years of their pensions, earned over up to 42 years, not been seen as ‘the biggest scandal’ ever perpetrtated? Pure sex discrimination – it was, after all, only women!!!
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Absolutely agree
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Maybe a petition calling for Ombudsman Rob Behrens to be stripped of his CBE might do the trick in raising profile and publicity!
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I am a woman born in Jan 1953, I was a nurse and due to lifting/turning heavy patients, we did not have a lifting apparatus, my life was compromised due to multiple fractures of a young person lifting 25-40kg patients. Many of my friends have died as a result of these fractures.I have been told that I am at risk of a cervical or spinal fracture that could result in permanent disability or death. The fractures I have had have significantly altered my life and I am in constant pain and now unable to live a normal life.
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Sorry to hear this.So many of the 1950s women have health problems adding to not getting their pensions.
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It’s so bad that things had to get to this stage, but honestly, we 50’s women cannot thank you enough for taking the next big step in our battle…..
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Hi David,
We 1950’s women have a lot to thank you for! You have championed our cause right from the off & never given up on us. As a result of the PO scandal receiving the spotlight it so deserves, we hopefully may have some of that spotlight beamed onto our injustice. There are one or two I can think of who brought about our terrible state who need to be brought to book.
Many thanks once again!
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Thankyou David really appreciate your continued support.
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Dear David Hencke,
We were encouraged to write to our MP asking for support to attain mediation between the DWP and 50s women. Please see the reply below:
Dear Paul & Chris Faircloth,
Thank you for contacting me about the petition regarding support mediation between DWP and 1950’s women affected by the pension age changes.
The Government decided over 25 years ago that it would make the State Pension age the same for men and women as a long-overdue move towards gender equality. The relevant legislation for equalisation includes the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011.
In light of increases in life expectancy since the 2007 Act, the Coalition Government decided to accelerate equalisation to ensure that the UK pensions system remained sustainable. As such, the 2011 Act brought forward equalisation but capped the maximum increase at 18 months. This meant that the State Pension age for women would still reach 65 in November 2018 but the increase from 65 to 66 would happen by October 2020 rather than April 2020 – at a cost of £1.1 billion to the Exchequer.
Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have supported the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the Supreme Court refused the claimants’ permission to appeal. Importantly, the case brought before the High Court was dismissed on all grounds, including notice, in October 2019. The Court also ruled that there had been no discrimination on grounds of age or sex.
Moreover, the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011 were all subject to public consultation and debate in Parliament and were all widely reported in the media. The changes in the 1995 legislation were communicated in leaflets, advertising campaigns and individual letters. The up-to-date State Pension age was also provided to those who requested a Pension Statement. More than 37 million personal State Pension statements were provided between April 2000 and September 2020.
I am aware that the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has concluded the first stage of its investigation into how the DWP communicated changes to the women’s State Pension age and is currently reviewing the second stage following a legal challenge. However, the PHSO investigation is a multi-staged process, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment while the investigation is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 makes clear that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
Thank you again for contacting me on this issue.
With best wishes,
Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald
Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education
Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Nigeria
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Just because You (Parliament) inform people about what heinous law you are going to enact does not make it right and fair. I am so shocked at the unfairness of this and feel so sad for the 50’s women, many of my friends. RISE UP WOMEN OF BRITAIN AND DEMAND THIS IS SORTED OUT.
I am a 60s women living overseas in one of the ex colonies who will never receive an increase in my hard earned pension. Yet those in the USA who ceded away from British rule, get theirs.
Lynne Jarche
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Is Mel Stride’ss time not up for reply to mediation yet ?
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I understand that his time is up on Friday but you never know whether the ministry will meet it.
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David can I ask why have cedaw not got a court date to take Mel stride to court
just listened to radio interview thank you so much for all your help I will donate to you when I can as you have been amazing letting us know where things are at in parliament and what that means thankyou from the bottom of my heart for the amazing job you have done for us xx
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