ON Monday I attended a Westminster Hall debate which was sparked by the huge number of signatures on a petition calling for transitional measures to be put in place to help women born in the 1950s who are affected by the rise in the state pension age (SPA).

This affects many women here in Penarth and across Cardiff, and I’ve heard from a number of constituents and recently met a representative of the WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality), which set up the petition.

Labour have repeatedly called on the government to look at transitional arrangements for the women born in the 1950s who have been hit hardest by the changes to SPA.

However time and again, government ministers have failed to listen to this group of women and to understand the impact the changes are having on these women’s lives.

The 1995 Pensions Act increased SPA for women from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and 2020, to bring it in line with that of men. But in 2011 the coalition government moved the goalposts, deciding to accelerate the rise in the women's SPA from April 2016 so that it reached 65 by November 2018, then rising to 66 by 2020.

Whilst Labour support the equalisation of SPA, we have always stressed that changes must be carefully implemented so that those who are affected are given adequate notice of the changes and have enough time to plan for the future.

But the 2011 decision to speed up the changes meant many thousands of women across the UK did not have enough notice and could not plan for their new circumstances, leaving them in real difficulty.

Many of these women have faced gender inequality in their working lives, having entered the world of work without even the protection of the 1970 Equal Pay Act.

Many took time out of work to bring up children, many worked part-time, and will not have had the chance to build up pension provision of their own in the same way as men of their age.

This makes it all the more difficult for them to adapt to unexpected changes to their pension age.

My Labour colleagues and I have repeatedly called on the government to deliver on their promise to look at transitional arrangements for these women but they have failed to engage.

Sadly that was still the case in Monday’s debate, but we will continue to keep the pressure on.