Pressure is mounting on the Department for Work and Pensions after a tense parliamentary session brought the full findings and recommendations relating to the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign back into the spotlight.

MPs from across parties questioned senior DWP officials over how the government handled changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s, many of whom say they were not given adequate notice and were left facing severe financial hardship as a result.

The scrutiny follows the publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s final report, which concluded that the department committed maladministration in the way it communicated the pension age changes to affected women. The ombudsman found that key letters and information campaigns were delayed, inconsistent and, in some cases, never delivered to the people most affected.

Under sustained questioning, MPs pressed officials on why the department had failed to properly assess the impact of its communication strategy, despite earlier internal warnings that women were unlikely to be aware of how significantly their retirement plans would change.

The ombudsman’s report stopped short of setting a precise compensation figure, but it did make a clear recommendation that the government should develop a compensation scheme for women who suffered injustice because of the failures identified. MPs repeatedly challenged the DWP on whether it now accepts the findings in full and when affected women can expect a formal response.

Campaigners say frustration has reached breaking point. Many women affected by the changes have already waited more than a decade for clarity and redress, with some having exhausted savings, sold homes or been forced to continue working despite ill health.

During the hearing, MPs highlighted evidence submitted by women who said they only became aware of the change to their pension age within a few years of their expected retirement date, leaving them with little or no opportunity to adjust financially.