Later today I will publish the Government’s response to the consultation on the pensions dashboard CP75.
Pensions dashboards will revolutionise retirement planning. They will enable people to access their pension information in a single place online, in a clear and simple form, whether that is on a laptop or tablet, and from their own home. Putting individuals in control of their data, pensions dashboards will bring together all pensions information from multiple sources, which can then be accessed at a time of their choosing.
This Government’s pensions reforms have transformed Britain’s retirement savings culture. More than 10 million people have benefitted from our revolutionary policy of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions.
On 3 December 2018 the department published a consultation “Pensions dashboards: Working together for the consumer”. The Government’s response to the pensions dashboards consultation outlines how the Government will facilitate the pensions industry to deliver this project.
Both the quantity and quality of the 125 responses received were helpful in informing the approach we set out. The responses we received were largely positive in nature.
The result of this feedback is that Government will facilitate the delivery of pensions dashboards as a key priority. We expect to see to see initial industry dashboards developed and tested from this year.
The Government remain committed to ensuring the individual is in control of their data and is conscious of the need for pace in order to deliver dashboards. Our priority is to ensure that information is presented securely, in a clear and simple format to support consumers with their retirement planning. The response to the consultation on dashboards includes:
a commitment to bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to compel all pension providers to make consumers’ data available to them through a dashboard;
an expectation that the majority of schemes will be ready to ‘go live’ with their data within a three to four year window;
confirmation that state pension information will be included as soon as possible;
and that dashboards will help to reconnect people with “lost” pension pots, benefitting savers and providers.
A crucial entity in taking this forward will be the industry delivery group; made up of stakeholders from across the industry, consumer groups, regulators and Government who will be accountable to the Single Financial Guidance Body board. We anticipate the delivery group should be fully operational by the end of the summer. The priorities for the delivery group in 2019 are to create a clear strategy for delivering the digital architecture, design a robust governance and security framework and to work with industry on their readiness to provide data via dashboards.
It is my firm belief that the pensions industry is best placed to develop and deliver dashboards.
However, there is a role for Government in facilitating industry’s delivery of dashboards which work for consumers and put people in control of their data.
Pensions dashboards can be an enabler for a real step-change across the sector to modernise the way it communicates with its members. They also provide an opportunity to build trust with consumers, ensuring they can access their pensions information in a convenient way.
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