4. How can the Welsh Government assist in the judicial review of matters arising from the UK Government's policy of equalisation of women's pension ages and the impact of those changes on women born in the 1950s? OAQ53905

The Welsh Government has consistently expressed to the UK Government its concerns about women who have had their state pension age raised without effective or sufficient notification. However, state pensions are a non-devolved matter and therefore the Welsh Ministers' powers are constrained in that respect. 

I appreciate the constraint that the Counsel General identifies, but in Plenary on 20 March it was agreed the Welsh Government would make representations to the UK Government in support of the Women Against State Pension Inequality state pension campaigners, many of whom are my constituents and have been in touch directly with me. The Deputy Minister and the Chief Whip also confirmed the Counsel General would consider what action Welsh Government could take in relation to the litigation against the Department for Work and Pensions for the alleged mishandling of raising the state pension age for women born in the 1950s. And the High Court hearing date for the judicial review is now fast approaching, because it's Wednesday 5 June and Thursday 6 June. I appreciate what he says about pensions being a reserved matter, but we have made a commitment. The Welsh Government has made a commitment to those campaigners. Therefore, can he satisfy this Chamber that the Welsh Government has taken the action that we discussed on 20 March and has put pressure on since? 

Well, I thank the Member for that supplementary question, and I know that this is a matter that he's been campaigning on in his constituency and is in close touch with his local 1950s women's group. He is right to say that in the debate on 20 March the Deputy Minister indicated an approach on behalf of the Welsh Government. As he says, the High Court has granted permission for that judicial review and the hearing will be heard on the fifth and sixth. 

The powers that the Counsel General has under the Government of Wales Act 2006 don't permit intervention in this particular set of circumstances, unfortunately. That's an assessment I've made subsequently, given the representations that the Minister made in the Chamber. However, the Welsh Government has subsequently written to the UK Government to press its concerns in relation to the UK Government's approach, and it concludes by urging the UK Government to take action to mitigate the negative impacts, which the women are enduring through no fault of their own, and to address the concerns in particular raised by Professor Alston and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and that letter has been sent to follow up the commitments made by the Deputy Minister in the Chamber. 

Can I thank the Counsel General for his response to Hefin David? I am sure he will understand that there will be a great many women in this category who will be disappointed to hear that he does not have—. And we must take his word, Llywydd, that he has given consideration to whether it was possible to take any action. Of course, the women bringing the case are optimistic about a possible positive result. If they are successful, there will, of course, then be an appeal. 

Can I urge the Counsel General and the Welsh Government to look again at whether there may be some way, if there is an appeal—? It's too late now I think to make any representations in the context of the judicial review hearing itself, but, if there is an appeal, I would submit to the Counsel General and to the Welsh Government, for example, that the Welsh Government has got a material interest in this case, because the Welsh economy has lost millions of pounds, because those women did not have that money to spend in their local communities. So, can I urge the Counsel General, today, while expressing a regret of my constituents and Hefin's and many others who I know will have been in contact with us—? I had a letter just today from a lady who had to lose her home—had to sell her home—because she couldn't afford to keep up payments and couldn't afford to pay the bills. Can I ask the Counsel General if he will, if there is an appeal, look again and seek some further advice as to whether, given the loss to the Welsh economy, that what I firmly believe has been maladministration on the part of the Department for Work and Pensions—? Given that potential loss, I would submit that there may be a material case for the Welsh Government to oppose an appeal if the women are found in favour of the week after next. I realise it's a very sensitive situation, because the matter is not devolved, but, on the other hand, if there has been maladministration, this maladministration has had catastrophic effects not only on those individual women, but also on the communities where those women did not have income to spend. 

Well, I thank Helen Mary Jones for her supplementary. She does identify in her question some of the tragic consequences of the actions of the UK Government in the lives of these women, and we all identify with the remarks that she's making in her question. With regard to the point about my powers to intervene and the powers of Welsh Ministers to intervene, that is the kind of thing that, of course, I keep under ongoing consideration and that will apply in this case as in any other.