The UK is to press ahead with an “industry-led dashboard, facilitated by government”, outlined in a statement by Guy Opperman, parliamentary under secretary of state for pensions & financial inclusion.
Admitting that work by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had shown the dashboard would be a “complex challenge” Opperman said: “We will continue to engage with industry on this model and government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary.”
The dashboard is considered a key plank of policy to bridge the advice gap and encourage swathes of the population to save by allowing individuals to view all their pensions in one place.
Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at AJ Bell, said: “The government’s statement on the pension dashboard is hardly a huge vote of confidence for the initiative.
“It hasn’t walked away from the project completely but it has acknowledged the size and the complexity of the challenge and laid responsibility for delivery firmly at the door of the industry.
“A dashboard with full government backing will have more chance of success, so it will be intriguing to see the findings from its feasibility study when they are published soon.
“An incomplete pension dashboard is not going to be of use to anyone so it is important the government commits to ensuring the state pension is included and uses its powers to ensure a critical mass of pension schemes sign-up to the initiative so that it delivers meaningful benefits to pension savers.”
Sloth’s pace
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, said: “This project has been moving at a sloth’s pace and it is good that finally the public is being granted some confidence that the project, which looked set for the chopping block, still has some life in it.
“However, the government’s statement is vague. We remain in murky water when it comes to what the dashboard will actually look like, whether one or multiple dashboards, and what the government actually means when they say they will ‘facilitate it’. More clarity is needed and we await the feasibility study, which the minister suggests is imminent.
“Any industry led dashboard will need not just backing from the government, but engagement. The industry can certainly get things off the ground by using their resources and expertise. However, the DWP still need to take responsibility for ensuring data is protected and that all relevant pension information, including state and public sector pensions are included.”
Half-baked
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon said the dashboard needed legislation to work: “Government needs to facilitate this by legislating to compel all schemes and the State to provide pension detail when asked to do so. Without this the pension dashboard risks being half-baked.
“For the time being we remain cautiously optimistic that government support continues and await the publication of the feasibility study which is key to the industry being able to move forward with developing the dashboard initiative.”
New guidance body
Opperman also said the government was launching a single national guidance body to replace the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service, and Pension Wise.
“The creation of the single financial guidance body is a genuine opportunity to improve provision of free and impartial government sponsored money and pensions guidance and debt advice so that people – especially those who are struggling, can make informed choices about their finances.
“We expect to establish the body as a legal entity in October when the chair and chief executive take up their roles. It will then launch in January when it takes on its delivery functions of money and pension guidance, and debt advice.”
The roles of chief executive and chair are being advertised.
