The UK Government has refused to publish a report on whether the rules about pensionable age are appropriate. Section 27(2) of the Pensions Act 2014 required them to publish it "before 7th May 2017."
Government lawyers acting on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions said they won't publish it, and that even if a Judge ordered them to publish it, they could simply publish a one word report that said, "yes" or "no". Despite this, they won't say "yes" or "no" now.
A letter from the Government's lawyers dated 26th May 2017 was written in response to a Judicial Review Letter Before Claim sent by Signature Litigation on behalf of Joanne Welch on 19th May 2017.
Joanne Welch is a supporter of "Back to 60", a campaign group that advocates reform of the rules on pensionable age.
Joanne Welch commented: "The Government has completely ignored a High Court case which states that the fact that an election is due to be held on 8 June 2017 does not allow a minister to breach his statutory duty. The Government also refused to answer our questions about why the Department for Work and Pensions failed to issue a press release about its decision not to publish the report, or who took the decision and when it was taken. This is yet another example of the Government's arrogant and unfair approach to pensions. If Mr Green thinks that a one word answer would be enough for his "report", why doesn't he publish it?"
A link to the Crowdfunding page for the Pensions Legal Challenge Fund can be found here. It is part of the #BackTo60 campaign, working to reverse the increased state pension age for women from 66 back to 60.
(Source: Back to 60)
