Pension dashboard connection date delayed again

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Pensions Laura Trott has provided an update on the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP). In a written statement, Ms Trott announced that she is laying amended regulations today to include a connection deadline of 31 October 2026. She also confirmed that, rather than setting out the entire staging timeline in legislation, the Government will set this out in guidance, on which it will collaborate with the industry this year.

Ms Trott said: “On 2 March 2023, I announced that the PDP would require additional time 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. 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. In recognition that the requirement to connect to the digital architecture should remain mandatory, we will include a connection deadline in legislation of 31 October 2026. This is not the Dashboards Available Point — the point at which dashboards will be accessible to the public — which could be earlier than this. The Government remains as committed as ever to making pensions dashboards a reality and we are ambitious about their delivery. I am confident that this re-appraised approach will enable us to make significant progress on delivering dashboards safely and securely, enabling consumers to take advantage of their benefits to plan for retirement.”

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), said in their Press Release that: “Today’s statement by the Minister for Pensions that the Government remains committed to the delivery of pensions dashboards and that the final staging date will go back by one year provides some helpful clarity and flexibility for the pensions industry. We would, however, highlight that many in the pensions industry, including the PLSA, would have preferred the new staging timeline to be set out in regulation, as was previously the case, rather than only in guidance, as is now planned. To make this new approach work, it will be necessary for the dashboards programme to work in a very open, transparent and collaborative way such that all parts of the Government involved in the project, and all those involved from across the industry, can work together as one.”

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The information in the article is correct as at 27/07/2023.

Please note: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate cash flow planning.