The project to develop a prototype, which the ABI has managed on behalf of HM Treasury, comes to a close at the end of May and the General Election means there will be a pause before the Government can resume its role in developing the service.
While there’s been good progress on the technology for dashboards, there is still a lot to do. There is a need to understand consumer needs in detail, the costs and benefits for all parts of the industry, and to further develop data standards for how a future service would be delivered. All of the firms currently contributing to the project have unanimously agreed to start fresh work on these issues.
The Government’s objective is for the service to be available to consumers by 2019, and for it to be offered by a range of different organisations rather than by a single, central service.
The interim phase of the project will have four main aims:
To establish a cost benefit analysis for the wider industry.
To research customer needs and establish what features people are likely to find most useful in a dashboard.
To establish the requirements and costs for a secure end-to-end service between data providers and data consumers.
To further develop the technical data standards for all firms and work with PASA (the Pensions Administration Standards Association) on agreeing a Code of Conduct in line with requirements from The Pensions Regulator.
No further funding will be required from participating firms at this time thanks to the size of contributions made so far. Officials at HM Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions and independent members of the steering group are all aware and will be kept closely informed and involved.
Yvonne Braun, Director of Long-term Savings and Protection Policy at the ABI, said: “Creating the infrastructure to offer dashboards is a critical project for the pensions sector and has the potential to revolutionise how people interact with their pension savings. The project to develop a prototype Pensions Dashboard has shown the technological challenges can be overcome, and now the project contributors are keen to move on to the next important phases of the project.
“The interim work being undertaken by the contributors and the ABI will allow the Pensions Dashboard to maintain momentum despite the pause in policy development as a result of the General Election. The work which will be done focuses on filling in crucial gaps which will ensure the project can proceed without delay once a new government is in place. We look forward to engaging with all the organisations which have an interest in this area.”
Margaret Snowdon, Chair of PASA and independent member of the Dashboard Prototype Steering Group, said: “The success of the dashboard prototype and its enthusiastic reception means we need to press forward with the next phase. Trustees, providers and administrators have been asking what they need to do to be ready. Clear, workable data standards specific to dashboard readiness will help . PASA is pleased to work with the ABI and the Pensions Regulator to develop this.”
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