Switch to an accessible version of this website which is easier to read. (requires cookies)

DWP Error Costs Taxpayer 16 Times More Than ASW Pensions Compensation

March 16, 2007 11:54 AM

Commenting on new figures from Ros Altman, former Government pensions adviser, on the real cost of compensating almost 1,000 ASW workers and over 100,000 others who have lost their pensions, Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, slammed the Government for scaremongering.

She said:

"The Department of Work and Pensions wastes £700 million a year in overpaid benefits and pensions. That's a massive 16 times more than it would cost to compensate ASW workers and over 100,000 others for their lost pensions.

"Over the next 5 years, it would cost just £45m a year to give people pensions justice. This is less than 1% of the Department's total budget which is a huge £120bn. And yet the Government tells us that it would be an unmanageable burden on the taxpayer to give people pensions justice.

"This is absolute rubbish. The Government is still deliberately trying scaremonger people out of sympathy for ASW workers and others who are still suffering from this whole sordid saga.

"The Government must accept the views of Parliament, the Ombudsman, the European Court of Justice and the High Court. This means making provision in the Pensions Bill, currently going through Parliament, to ensure that people are finally given the pensions justice they have deserved all along."

What would you like to do next?

  • Subscribe for updates

    Read updates from this website in your desktop or online news reader

    • On a news reader website

      •  
      •  
      •  

      In a desktop news reader or a website not listed above

      •  
    • Example monthly digest email
      •  
      •  
      •  
    • If you submit your email address, the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the information you have provided to contact you from time to time about issues we think you may find of interest. Some of the contacts may be automated. You can opt out of some or all contacts at any time by contacting us.


    • Generate different image

    Join our email list

    • If you submit your email address, the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the information you have provided to contact you from time to time about issues we think you may find of interest. Some of the contacts may be automated. You can opt out of some or all contacts at any time by contacting us.


    • Generate different image

    Follow the party's activity on...

  • Share this page

    Share this page on another website

    Link to this page

    On websites and printed material:
    jennywillott.com/en/article/2007/118354/dwp-error-costs-taxpayer-16-times-more-than-asw-pensions-compensation
    In text messages, Twitter, or reading over the phone:
    jw.lib.dm/a456w

    Email this page to a friend


    • Generate different image
  • Help out or donate

    Help out in your local area

      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
    • If you submit your email address, the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the information you have provided to contact you from time to time about issues we think you may find of interest. Some of the contacts may be automated. You can opt out of some or all contacts at any time by contacting us.


    • Generate different image
  • Tell us what you think

    Send us your views

    If you are a resident of the Cardiff Central constituency and are writing to discuss any issue that Parliament or government is responsible for, you must provide your home address as MPs are generally only permitted to act on behalf of constituents.

    If you are not a constituent, you do not need to provide your address, but the matters we can deal with are more limited and you may wish to contact your local MP in the first instance.

    • If you choose to join our email list, the Liberal Democrats and their elected representatives may use the information you have provided to contact you from time to time about issues we think you may find of interest. Some of the contacts may be automated. You can opt out of some or all contacts at any time by contacting us. You do not need to join our email list to complete this form.


    • Generate different image