The ombudsman report today is a damming verdict on the way successive governments handled the increase to women’s state pension age.

The long awaited report suggests it would be appropriate for compensation to be paid to affected women. It also indicates that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should acknowledge and apologise for its failure to properly inform the women affected of their state pension age rising from 60 to 65.

This represents a victory for the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaigners who claimed there was maladministration. As a former pensions minister, it has long been clear to me that there were serious flaws in governments’ official communication of such a huge change for older women.

However, I fear that the Waspi women will not be satisfied with the recommendations for compensation, which fall far short of their expectation of........

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