Women affected by the way state pension hikes were communicated should receive fast and fair compensation, a committee of MPs has heard. The Work and Pensions Committee hearing took place after a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) was issued in March. The PSHO asked Parliament to intervene over complaints around how state pension changes were communicated. Jane Cowley, Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign director, told the Work and Pensions Committee: “In terms of things we’d like to see in a compensation scheme… we’d like it to be speedy because of the delays that have already gone on, we want… something that can be set up within weeks rather than years.” She added: “It needs to be very simple, very clear, easy to operate.” Ms Cowley told the committee: “We can’t have a ‘one-size-fits-all’, it does have to take account of people’s different circumstances.” Ms Cowley said: “I think women need to be given the benefit of the doubt. “We’ve had many years of women’s word being doubted by the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) and I think we need to move on from that.” She said a compensation scheme needs to be sensitive...