Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, whether he plans to accept the invitation from Garden Court Chambers to attend mediation talks with Joanne Welch from CEDAWinLAW on an alternative dispute resolution for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes in the State Pension age.

In the legal challenge on changes to State Pension age, both the High Court and Court of Appeal have found no fault in the actions of the DWP, under successive governments dating back to 1995, finding Government acted entirely lawfully and did not discriminate on any grounds.

Additionally, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has not completed his investigation into communication of changes to women’s state pension. It would be inappropriate to enter into Alternative Dispute Resolution with third parties or comment while the PHSO investigation is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.