Mike Penning and David Gauke confronted Work and Pensions Secretary over his decision to reject the ruling of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Dacorum’s two MPs, Mike Penning and David Gauke, angered over the Government’s decision to reject the ruling of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, confronted Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, in a House of Commons exchange this week.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abrahams, has been conducting an inquiry into the official information leaflets and guidance issued from Government bodies such as the Department of Work and Pensions. Pension scheme members, including members of the Dexion scheme, had been misled by this information into believing that their pensions were secure, even in the event of their pension scheme being wound up.

Mike Penning who had previously led a delegation of the 700 Dexion workers who had their pensions stolen to see the Secretary of State said:
“They [The Dexion Pensioners] feel betrayed. At no time did the Secretary of State indicate to them that the Government would ignore the ruling of the Ombudsman.” “This is a bad day for Parliament” he added.

David Gauke continued:
”There seems to be no recognition of the scale of the problem faced by many people…who used to work at Dexion”.

“The stance the Government are taking will damage confidence in occupational pensions and weaken the parliamentary ombudsman” he said.