"We’ve been aware since the beginning of the year that there was ‘trouble at the mill’ but are surprised that the DWP is taking such a radical step by announcing a reset."
The Department of Work and Pensions has announced a significant delay to the Pensions Dashboards Programme.
The statement, released this morning, explains that the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) will be unable to meet the connection deadlines set out in legislation, and the timeline will need to be revised.
The framework for dashboards will remain unchanged, but DWP will now legislate to provide new deadlines.
Pensions minister, Laura Trott, said: "Additional time is required to deliver the complex technical solution to enable the connection of pension providers and schemes, in accordance with the connection deadlines set out in the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 and the Financial Conduct Authority’s corresponding pensions dashboard rules for pension providers. 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.
"Given these delays, I have initiated a reset of the Pensions Dashboards Programme in which DWP will play a full role. The new Chair of the Programme Board will develop a new plan for delivery."
Chris Curry, PDP’s Principal, said: “Delivering the central digital architecture for pensions dashboards is a complex undertaking. DWP and the Money and Pensions Service remain committed to dashboards.
"Significant progress has already been made. However, we need to do more work to ensure the connection journey is stable and secure for industry, and that it’s achievable ahead of mandatory connection.
"Industry has played a significant role in getting us to this point, whether as early participants, inputting on standards or continually feeding back on getting dashboards right. We will continue to work closely with industry to deliver dashboards that will transform retirement planning and create new opportunities for engagement with savers.”
Nick Meredith, products director at Equisoft, commented: “While the announcement from the Department of Work and Pensions that the implementation of the Pensions Dashboards Programme has been deferred is disappointing, and we are frustrated that there is no hard deadline for restart, it is not surprising that with a project of this complexity there will be some delays.
“From Equisoft's perspective our Pension Fusion ISP product is robust and ready to re-connect and finalise testing, with 22 pension providers signed up, covering nearly 6 million members. This puts us in a prime position to move forwards again when confirmation is received of revised dates for go-live.
“On the plus side, when the programme recommences, this pause should mean that all sides will hopefully be ready to move ahead with a fully comprehensive and effective solution, which is good news for individuals and organisations with multiple pensions everywhere.
“We will use the extra time to continue to help our clients to set up their data, move forwards with integration and test their connections, in order to be well prepared to meet their revised staging deadlines, once these are confirmed by the DWP.“
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, added: “The pension industry has been working hard to meet the legislative staging dates, with the largest schemes and providers due to start onboarding in a matter of months. We’ve been aware since the beginning of the year that there was ‘trouble at the mill’ but are surprised that the DWP is taking such a radical step by announcing a reset. We are disappointed about the reset which in reality likely means an implementation delay, but we recognise that it’s really important that everything is in place before schemes connect to the dashboard ecosystem and definitely before the public accesses dashboards.
“There’s a strong possibility that the dashboard scheme onboarding phased timeline could be moved back into next year, giving the pension dashboard programme more time to prepare for this incredibly complex programme. This will also give schemes more time to prepare, but it’s important that they carry on with their plans in the meantime rather than throwing them up in the air. The government needs to urgently confirm what this means for schemes and pension providers in practice as there are many other changes happening concurrently.
“Ultimately we believe that pension dashboards have the potential to be a gamechanger, not only connecting people with their pensions but also increasing engagement and improved financial wellbeing. However, this reset means that the public may have to wait until 2025 or beyond to access dashboards to see all their pension online and in one place.”
