"There has been speculation as to whether the government wants to proceed with the pensions dashboard. I want to make it clear that this project will go ahead."
In a comment piece published in The Times today, Opperman said: "There has been speculation as to whether the government wants to proceed with the pensions dashboard. I want to make it clear that this project will go ahead.
"The dashboard is a key part of our desire to ensure consumers are able to understand their pensions and plan properly for their future. I can also confirm that the Department for Work and Pensions will be the lead department on this project."
Opperman is expected to make further announcements in his speech at the PLSA annual conference later today.
Steve Webb, Director of Policy at Royal London, said: “This is a huge step forward. Those of us who want consumers to be able to see all of their pensions in one place had started to despair at the lack of momentum coming from government.
"Whilst government has been clear that it will not be delivering the dashboard or paying for it, government engagement is still vitally important. The government can help to ensure that state pensions and public service pensions are included in the dashboard and can legislate to require all private pension schemes to supply data to the dashboard.
"Other countries have had services of this sort for many years and it is time that the UK caught up, especially given the fragmented nature of much UK pension provision. Being able to see all of their pensions in one place will help savers and their advisers to plan ahead for retirement much more effectively in future.”
Tom McPhail, Head of Policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "There is strong support for this initiative, which will help connect savers with their pension investments and ensure they can plan their retirement with confidence.
"The priority for the pensions industry is to build widespread coverage of the Dashboard, encouraging as many firms as possible to participate. The government’s commitment, with the planned inclusion of state pension benefits will help to develop this coverage.
"Given the technical challenges of the Dashboard, and the demands of Brexit, it would be unrealistic to expect the government to bring forward legislation to make participation mandatory before the project has gone live Hargreaves Lansdown is committed to participating in the dashboard project and will continue to press the government to legislate at the earliest possible opportunity.
"With the dashboard not expected to be with us until 2019, anyone who currently has multiple pensions should take the time to get an up to date valuation for each, delaying your planning even for a couple of years can put a dent in your retirement income. Often people are surprised quite how much the company pension they had from a long forgotten employer is worth."
