Pensions minister refuses to back dashboard

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Pensions minister refuses to back dashboard

The pensions minister has refused to confirm whether the government will press ahead with the long-awaited dashboard when questioned by MPs today (July 18).

At a hearing of the work and pensions select committee, Guy Opperman said he was unable to comment on press speculation that his boss Esther McVey, the state secretary for work and pensions, wanted to abandon plans to implement the pension dashboard.

Mr Opperman said: "This is a matter upon which government has to make a decision. No decision has been made. When a decision is made, it will be communicated in the appropriate and proper way and it’s probably not appropriate for me to comment any further than that."

The minister faced questions on this after sources quoted in The Times earlier this week said Ms McVey wanted to abandon the dashboard.

The plan behind the pension dashboard, which is due to be launched in 2019, is to create the technology to enable savers to see all of their retirement pots in one place at the same time, giving them a greater awareness of their assets and how to plan for their retirement.

It was originally proposed by former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne but the government has said the industry should create it and responsibility for the scheme has since moved to the Department for Work and Pensions.

But Mr Opperman said the government was still carrying out a feasibility study on the project, the results of which would be released when it was completed.

When pushed by MPs on his previous support for the dashboard, Mr Opperman accepted these previous views but would not be drawn further.

Martin Tilley, director of pensions technical at Dentons, said it would be "disappointing to say the least" if the scheme was abandoned by the government.

He said: "The industry would be justifiably cross if we have got this far only for the government to now say it does not want to be involved."

Mr Tilley said it was vital the government was engaged with the scheme as for many people, the state pension would be the largest part of their income in retirement.

"I hope this is not going to be another U-turn," said Mr Tilley. "The dashboard only works if all participants are involved, so people are able to properly review their financial situation and adequately plan for the future."