Pension Dashboard hit with further delays

The project is being “reset” with a new chair appointed to take charge.

In a surprise to no one, the launch of the UK’s pension dashboard project has been delayed once again, with pensions minister Laura Trott MP citing the complexity of the project.

Originally conceived by Chancellor George Osborne back in 2016, the Pension Dashboard is designed to give consumers an overview of all their various pensions in one place—however, the ambitious project had to be rebooted in 2019 after reaching its intended launch date with no dashboard in sight, and subsequently delayed from 2022 to 2023.

“The first connection deadline is currently 31 August 2023. However, additional time is required to deliver the complex technical solution to enable the connection of pension providers and schemes,” Trott announced in a written ministerial statement yesterday.

Trott described the move as a “reset” of the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) and that a new chair would be appointed to develop a delivery plan.

“We will ensure that the pensions industry has adequate time and the necessary technical information to prepare for any revised connection deadlines. I will provide a further update to the House before summer recess,” she added.

The news is a major problem for the already four years late project, which faced further criticism yesterday from both fintechs looking to provide pension dashboard services and consumer groups.

“It’s disappointing but not wholly surprising,” said Alice Guy, personal finance editor of Interactive Investor.

"This moving of the goalposts is frustrating for pensions providers as regulated firms need to meet mandated deadlines every year and deliver on time, it’s not possible for them to change the rules to give them more breathing space.”

Moneyhub, which is among the providers building a pensions dashboard that will take advantage of the Government’s larger project, said the delay shouldn’t stop pensions providers from continuing to test and move forward.

“Much work on the testing of ‘front-end’ dashboard customer journeys is required, and this work must continue so that this revised connection date for the provision of data doesn’t become a delay for consumers,” said Moneyhub chief commercial officer Dan Scholey.

“This will mean front-end dashboard customer journeys will be ready to provide maximum benefits for consumers as soon as the pension data providers are live.”