When a department and independent bodies face a legal case, they have to review whether they continue to assess claims or await determination of the legal case. This has been the policy under all governments, Labour, Coalition, and Conservative, for decades. The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) closed all live cases which concerned complaints about the state pension age for women (WASPI) when they became subject to legal proceedings, as is required under its governance contract. In the event the legal proceedings fall away or there is no determination on the matters which form the basis of the WASPI complaints, the ICE could consider reopening the cases at the request of the Department.