Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has suggested help for Waspi women who have been hit by the change to the state pension age.
That comes later report said the changes had not been adequately communicated and people should receive an apology and compensation, possibly totaling billions of pounds.
The Parliament and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has said thousands of women born in the 1950s may have been affected by the Department for Work and Pensions' “failure to inform them” of an increase in the age of eligibility for benefits.
The DWP's handling of the changes meant some women lost the ability to make informed decisions about their finances, said PHSO, which recommended individual compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950.
However, the government has not yet responded to the report or revealed whether it will take action on the payment calls.
Politics live: Sunak launches local Tory election campaign
Activists from the group Women against pension inequality (Waspi) are calling on whoever wins the next general election to act quickly on compensation payments.
Read more: Who is the Waspi woman and what happened to them?
Asked about the report's conclusions on Friday as he launched the Conservatives' local election campaign in Derbyshire, Sunak said: “I know there will be a lot of interest in this and I completely understand that.
“I hope people appreciate that we only received the report yesterday, it's very long and detailed, and the best thing we can do is review it carefully and then come back with a thoughtful and thoughtful response.”
But pressing on whether the government would make payments to Waspi women, he said his “experience in this area shows that we are actually working,” pointing to legislation aimed at overturning the convictions of deputy postmasters embroiled in the Horizon IT scandal.
Rishi Sunak launches the Conservatives' local election campaign. Photo: PA
The Prime Minister added: “I am determined to do everything I can to put this right and, when it comes to retirees, I want everyone to have dignity in retirement.
“That's why we protected the triple lock and that's why the state pension will increase, as I said, by £900 in a few weeks.
“It speaks to my values and what the government will always do.”
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Sir John Major's Conservative government introduced legislation in 1995 gradually adjusting the retirement age for women from 60 to 65 to match that of men.
However, many women said they had not received sufficient warning from the DWP about the changes or had not heard from the department at all.
In 2011, the then coalition government decided to bring forward the adjustment timeline by two years, with more women facing additional years of deprivation of access to the state pension.
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“Critical” retirement compensation is paid
The Waspi Group has been fighting for compensation since 2015 and in 2018 secured a PHSO investigation.
Waspi leader Angela Madden said: “Rishi Sunak will have no chance in asking for the votes of Waspi women in this local election – and the upcoming general election – unless he follows the Ombudsman's clear instructions that Waspi women should receive compensation.
“MPs from all parties have signed up to this case, demanding £10,000 in compensation from each of them. The Prime Minister has the right to bring legislation to Parliament to ensure this, and that is what women born in the 1950s rightly expect now.”
