Court of Appeal pensions test case: "damning verdict against the Government"

08/02/2008

Three Court of Appeal judges have delivered a crushing verdict against the Government on their treatment of 125,000 people who were misled about the safety of their pensions.  The Secretary of State's appeal against last year's High Court judicial review ruling that 'no reasonable Secretary of State could rationally disagree' with the Ombudsman, was dismissed.

In fact, say campaigners, today's verdict is even stronger than last year's High Court ruling.
 
The three judges not only confirmed  that the Secretary of State's rejection of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's findings was irrational and unlawful, but also ruled that he must accept that his Department caused injustices which go beyond just financial losses.  The Government DID mislead at least 125,000 people about the safety of their pensions and caused their suffering.  The verdict says the Government's maladministration also led to:
    •     a sense of outrage
    •     distress
    •     anxiety
    •     uncertainty
    •     lost opportunities to make informed choices about their pensions
    •     and denied them any chance to take remedial action to protect their pensions

"We warmly welcome this judgment which, yet again,  vindicates our arguments and confirms that the Government misled trusting citizens about the security of their pension savings, say the Pensions Action Group. "But we are astonished that the Secretary of State, James Purnell, wants to appeal to the House of Lords.  It is now 6 - 0 against the DWP. How many verdicts will it take to make the Government see sense?
 
"This attitude merely reinforces the High Court and Court of Appeal verdicts that the Government's decisions in this matter are irrational.  For the past few years, it has  tried, unsuccessfully, to wear us down and even tried to bully the victims into submission, by threatening to bankrupt them if they lost the case."
 
The Action Group say they will vigorously opposing the Government's request for leave to appeal to the House of Lords in this case as "it is a waste of taxpayers' money and would just further prolong the suffering caused".
 
"The Government wants to make a last desperate appeal against a verdict that it has never liked.   It beggars belief that the DWP would waste still more taxpayers' money fighting this case, trying to defend the indefensible.  Despite such a strong verdict against the Government, it still wants to wriggle out of taking any blame for what it did.  As the Parliamentary Ombudsman herself said 'it's maladministration, get over it.'  But it seems the Government is unable to bring itself to do so."
 
The Action Group also claim that, despite Peter Hain's pre-Christmas announcement of increasing the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), payments to the Pension  Protection Fund level for all victims, the money is not yet coming through.