Pensions changes which have seen over 3,000 women in Montgomeryshire lose out on their retirement are set to be debated at an event in Newtown this weekend.

Thousands of women saw their retirement age pushed back when government legislation changes saw the pension age for women to increase from 60 to 65 over the period April 2010 to 2020, with the Conservative/Lib Dem Government accelerating the timetable, starting in April 2016 when women’s State Pension Age was 63 so that it would reach 65 in November 2018.

The number of women affected by the changes brought in include 3,900 women in the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency and 3,300 in Montgomeryshire.

Speaking ahead of the meeting in Newtown on Saturday, May 11, Helen Mary Jones AM, Plaid Cymru AM for Mid and West Wales, described the situation as a "fiasco".

“Despite paying full National Insurance contributions all their working lives, these women have been told at the last minute that the pensions they had expected at age 60 would be delayed by up to six years," she said.

"This fiasco has caused retirement plans to be shattered. Women who have planned and saved for their retirement are living on dwindling limited savings until they reach their new state pension age when the only income they will have left will be their state pension.

"The consequences of this poor implementation and communication are likely to be poverty, loss of independence and financial security, and ill health."

The campaign group is calling for fair transitional state pension arrangements, which they say translates into a ‘bridging pension’ paid from age 60 to the state pension age. They also advocate compensation for losses for those women who have already reached their state pension age.

"We know that we need to introduce equality in terms of the state pension age, but we need to do that over a longer time frame and give an opportunity to women to prepare properly for their future and in a way that doesn’t leave them in poverty and distress," added Helen Mary Jones.

The Government argues that the changes in the 2011 Act were debated at length and a decision made by Parliament, as part of which a concession was made to limit the impact on those most affected. It says it will “make no further changes to the pension age or pay financial redress in lieu of a pension.”

Speaking during a house of commons debate in 2016, Under-Secretary of State for Pensions Richard Harrington said it would cost "more than £30 billion" to reverse the changes.

"Governments have to make difficult decisions, and the allocation of public spending is one of the most difficult," he said.

"It is not fair to say that the acceleration of the women’s state pension age has not been fully considered. It went through Parliament, there was a public call for evidence and there was extensive debate in both Houses. The Government listened during the process and made a substantial concession worth more than £1 billion. "

The information event gets underway at 3pm at the Monty Club, Newtown on Saturday, May 11.