The PHSO conceded out of court that part of its investigation into how increases to the state pension age were communicated was flawed and must be reconsidered.
Waspi’s lawyers were previously in discussions with those representing the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) with the campaign group's position being that the best outcome in the judicial review would be an early settlement.
It argued that this would mean the ombudsman accepted that the stage 2 report into the injustice suffered by Waspi and other 1950s born women should be reconsidered.
Those discussions concluded at the end of last week and have led to an agreement between the PHSO and Waspi that the judicial review claim should be settled.
The settlement agreement has now been submitted to the court for approval.
In summary, under the settlement:
- the stage 2 report will be ‘quashed’;
- the ombudsman will reconsider aspects of the stage 2 report;
- the ombudsman will pay some of Waspi’s legal costs.
FTAdviser understands that the stage 3 report, and the financial remedy amount PHSO recommends, will not necessarily change.
The ombudsman will review this in light of revisiting part of the stage 2 report.
PHSO has also not been forced to reconsider the stage 2 report and has instead, voluntarily agreed to look again at one point of it.
The ombudsman said this is something it didn’t have to do, but agreed to because it thinks it will provide the quickest route to a remedy for those affected.
A PHSO spokesperson said: “We are confident that we have completed a fair and impartial investigation. As an independent ombudsman, our duty is to provide the right outcome for all involved and make sure justice is achieved.
“Given the legal challenge brought against us, we have agreed to look again at part of our stage 2 report. We hope this cooperative approach will provide the quickest route to remedy for those affected and reduce the delay to the publication of our final report.”
Angela Madden, Waspi chair, said: "Such a big victory would not have been possible without the support of thousands of ordinary women who dug deep to fund our case."
In February, Waspi launched a fundraiser to finance a judicial review of the PHSO’s second report.
Waspi are a group of women born in the 1950s, fighting for compensation for maladministration by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
