Legal Update – 1st December 3035
1st December 2025
11th hour case management hearing on 3rd December
The Court handling WASPI’s judicial review has arranged an 11th hour case management hearing on 3 December to consider the implications of the Government’s reconsideration of its response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
WASPI’s judicial review challenging the Government’s December 2024 rejection of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report on DWP remains listed for a full hearing on 9 and 10 December 2025, but there has been an unusual 11th hour development in the litigation. The Court has arranged a 2 ½ hour hearing on 3 December 2025 to consider the implications for the legal case of the commitment the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions made last month to reconsider the December 2024 decision. Regrettably, this development means WASPI must ask its supporters to dig deep to help cover the unavoidable additional legal costs.
WASPI’s position on the reconsideration itself is that it might have value, but it is deeply concerned about delay (no timescale has been given) and whether the Government may end up making a new decision that simply replicates the December 2024 one, including the legal errors currently being challenged.
WASPI has asked its legal team to seek satisfactory assurances from the Government so it can make a final decision on whether to press for the full hearing to go ahead.
Angela Madden, WASPI’s Chair, commented publicly today:
“Last month’s reconsideration announcement was a major step forward for WASPI women, because the Government accepted that important evidence was never considered by the Minister when she rejected the Ombudsman’s findings on injustice and compensation proposals. But the Government has since been coy about how it will go about reconsidering and the timescale. Our lawyers have been pressing the Government on these and other matters. The imminent court hearings may not be necessary, but only if we can be confident the Government is willing to reconsider in the right way. The high stakes should not be forgotten. This is a case of the utmost public interest. It impacts not only on millions of WASPI women, but on everyone who trusts the Ombudsman system to resolve their grievances about public authority decisions. Most importantly of all, every 13 minutes, a WASPI woman dies without seeing justice.”
The new hearing means WASPI will need to cover additional legal costs. The timing is very far from ideal for many WASPI women, but we would be grateful for any further donations towards these to help keep the pressure on the Government and drive the case forward.