An SPP survey found nearly three quarters of consultants had seen a slowdown in related activities since a delay to the implementation of the pensions dashboard.
In survey conducted at a SPP event on pensions dashboards, 72 per cent of pension consultants said they had observed a significant slow-down in dashboard activities since the programme reset announcement and new deadlines.
The SPP said the significance of the 72 figure indicated that the industry was facing an uphill battle, with many pension schemes understandably prioritising more urgent tasks and treating the deferral as a good reason to slow down their dashboards preparation, despite encouragement not to do so.
Its survey findings would appear to substantiate fears that the industry is headed for a capacity crunch as pension schemes, administrators and providers gear up to tackle industry initiatives including pensions dashboards, as well as GMP equalisation and ESG reporting.
Dashboards down the agenda
The vast majority – 78 per cent – of pension schemes and corporates who joined a recent WTW dashboards webinar said there was already a capacity crunch in the pensions industry which is impacting on schemes being able to deliver their strategic objectives.
Paul McGlone, past SPP president and dashboards lead commented "We really cannot fault schemes for slowing down or pausing their dashboards preparation; there are so many more pressing matters to attend to. What we’re seeing is that work on data, which feeds into many projects, is largely continuing, but work that is specifically for dashboards is definitely falling down the agenda. Realistically, momentum on these projects will not be regained until clear connection deadlines are back in place."
He said the findings underscore the need for new connection dates to be set as soon as possible, to reignite interest in the pensions dashboard programme. The SPP remains positive about pensions dashboards and the long term impact on savers, and is committed to working alongside the DWP and industry stakeholders to support dashboards implementation.
