Pensions minister Laura Trott has announced changes to how the government plans to deliver its pensions dashboards programme.
In an announcement today (June 8), Trott has said more time is needed to deliver the “complex build” and therefore the government will instead set it out in guidance rather than setting out the entire staging timeline in legislation.
“This will give the pensions dashboards programme the flexibility it needs to ensure this complex project is completed effectively,” she said.
Trott noted that the staging timeline guidance will be done in collaboration with those in the pensions industry.
“More time is needed to deliver this complex build, and for the pensions industry to help facilitate the successful connection of a wide range of different IT systems to the dashboards digital architecture," she said.
“As part of our reset of the pensions dashboard programme, I am today laying amending regulations with a new approach to delivery that allows us to work more collaboratively with the pensions industry.”
In addition to this, Trott has set a connection deadline in legislation of October 31, 2026 “in recognition that the requirement to connect to the digital architecture should remain mandatory”.
She stressed that this deadline is not the point at which dashboards will be accessible to the public, which could be earlier than this.
“The government remains as committed as ever to making pensions dashboards a reality and we are ambitious about their delivery,” Trott said.
“I am confident that this re-appraised approach will enable us to make significant progress on delivering dashboards safely and securely, enabling consumers to take advantage of their benefits to plan for retirement,” she added.
Responding to the update, Sam Buckle, executive sponsor of Phoenix Group’s pensions dashboard project said he welcomed the additional flexibility in today’s announcement.
“We believe focusing on having the majority of pensions on board is the priority, rather than the entire market.
“As an organisation we will continue to plan our dashboard programme in line with the guidance as soon as it is issued. This is an important initiative that will help pension savers. We are making good progress and are on track to meet our obligations,” Buckle said.
Today's announcement follows on from the news in March that the long-awaited dashboard would be delayed further from its original go-live date in 2019.
The idea behind the dashboard is to allow individuals to view information about their pensions, including state pension, in one place online.
Another benefit will be the ability to reconnect individuals with their lost pension pots.
