Regulations were approved by parliament last week and work continues to implement technical requirements

Credit: 3D Animation Production Company/Pixabay

The £93m programme to create and deliver digital Pensions Dahsboards is on track to start on-boarding schemes in just over four months’ time, according to the minister responsible.

First proposed in 2016 – and originally slated to be fully up and running by March 2019 – the dashboards are intended to give citizens a single, government-managed online platform to access information on all their pensions: including the state pension, as well as private and employer schemes.

The Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) is being led by the Money and Pensions Service, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions that was created in 2019 via the merger of several previous guidance bodies.

The programme is “responsible for delivering the digital architecture that will make dashboards work”, according to pensions minister Laura Trott. As it nears the scheduled launch of the first connections to this architecture, “next steps [will include] finalising a suite of operational and technical standards for dashboards”, the minister said.

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“The programme intends to consult on design standards this winter,” she added. “The PDP has consulted on the data, technical, code of connection, and reporting standards relating to dashboards and will publish a response later this year. The overall delivery timetable remains on track with the programme focused on building and testing the digital architecture to enable the first cohort of schemes to connect from April 2023.”

The technical work is now supported by regulations that were put before parliament in October – and approved last week. They are due to “come into force this winter”, according to Trott, who was answering a written parliamentary question from independent MP Rob Roberts.

“[The regulations are] an important milestone, setting out detailed requirements for occupational pension schemes and for organisations seeking to provide a qualifying pensions dashboard service,” the minister added. “Alongside this, the Financial Conduct Authority intends to publish final rules for personal and stakeholder pensions shortly and the Pensions Regulator is providing support to help schemes meet their connection deadlines, including through guidance and writing to schemes at least 12 months ahead of their deadline.”

The Pensions Dashboard Programme forms part of government’s major projects portfolio. The most recent DWP data set published by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority reveals that the programme’s whole-life delivery costs are estimated at £93m. The programme – which was given an amber delivery-confidence rating by the IPA in each of the last two years – is scheduled to conclude on by the end of March 2025.