On the go: Despite pensions dashboards having both industry-wide and government backing, it is unlikely that the technology will be delivered “any time soon”, Sir Steve Webb warned.
The project was first announced in the 2016 Budget, with the government pledging to ensure the pensions industry designed, funded and launched a dashboard by 2019.
But following delays to the legislation – such as the Pension Schemes Bill being put on ice due to last month’s general election – the industry will have to wait longer for these dashboards to become consumer-facing.
Sir Steve, a former pensions minister and now director of policy at Royal London, said he expected the pensions bill to resurface in 2020, with the government eager to push forward on pensions dashboards.
He said: “One of the main measures in the pensions bill will be legislation to implement the long-awaited pensions dashboard. The main measures require pension schemes and pension providers to supply data to the dashboard, as well as making it possible for state pension data to be displayed as well.
“But we should not expect to see a comprehensive dashboard any time soon.”
Sir Steve explained that primary legislation could take most of 2020 to reach the statute book, and this could then be followed by months of consultation on regulations or secondary legislation, which sets out how the dashboards will work and what will be required from providers and the industry in general.
“Once the legislative work is complete, we are likely to see an early batch of data loaded on to the dashboard, mainly from more modern automatic-enrolment schemes offered by insurers and master trusts,” he said.
“After this, it is likely to be several more years before a lot of the older data from company and private pensions will be visible on the dashboard. But 2020 should at least give confirmation that the project is going ahead and enable the whole industry to focus on delivering it.”
