The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has delayed the implementation of its Pensions Dashboards Programme.
It will now include a connection deadline in legislation of 31 October 2026.
The DWP said more time is needed to deliver 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.
Earlier this year, the government said there would be a “significant delay” to the programme.
Pension schemes were due to start connecting to dashboards from 31 August 2023, while dashboards should have been available to the public late next year.
In a statement, published today (8 June), pensions minister Laura Trott said: “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.
“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.
“Rather than setting out the entire staging timeline in legislation, we will instead set this out in guidance which we will collaborate on with industry this year.”
“This will give the Pensions Dashboards Programme the flexibility it needs to ensure this complex project is completed effectively.”
Pensions dashboards: A new frontier or a dead end?
The announcement has received mixed reaction from the industry.
Aegon head of pensions Kate Smith said the new deadline gives “more time to ensure that the pension dashboard ecosystem works and is fully tested, giving schemes and members confidence. And gives more certainty that pension dashboards will happen”.
“Previously connecting dates for pension providers and schemes were set out in legislation by scheme size and type,” she added.
“These will be removed. We look forward to seeing more details on how the staging dates set out in the guidance will work and be managed by the pension dashboard programme to ensure that scheme connection points are evenly spread to avoid the risk of being left until the last minute of 31 October 2026, which could easily lead to a capacity crunch and overwhelm the pension dashboard ecosystem.”
Karl Lidgley – client manager, third party administration at Hymans Robertson – said the firm “welcomes the prospect of clarity around the implementation of the dashboard programme”.
“Pension dashboards will help re-unite members with lost pots and enable smoother retirement planning for millions of members,” he added.
“These benefits can only be realised when there is comprehensive and reliable coverage of member data in dashboards.
“It’s imperative that third party administrators with multiple schemes to onboard can schedule the work effectively to connect schemes, which the original staging dates compelled schemes and their administrators to do. If the updated approach has no enforcement until the end point, which is not yet clear, it risks schemes choosing to defer work.
“This would cause a concertina effect as the deadline approaches and a single point of failure, which is in nobody’s interests.
“Until all this is resolved, dashboards will not deliver the improvement in member outcomes that are urgently needed for today’s retirees, despite all the efforts been made across the industry.”
Claire Trott, divisional director for retirement and holistic planning at St. James’s Place, said although it is “disappointing” that the dashboard is being yet again delayed it is “more important that it is correct, not misleading and a real benefit to consumers”.
She added: “It would be worse to launch something that doesn’t provide any benefit, or only part of what is intended, this could mean that it fails to get engagement by those who most need this resource.”
