It’s my absolute pleasure to introduce our October 2020 progress update report. This document is an accurate reflection of the massive strides we’ve taken in the last six months to deliver dashboards, together with people from across the industry and a whole range of government stakeholders. It also reflects just how much there is still to do.
In my role as the Pensions Dashboards Programme Director, I have the privilege of leading the outstanding programme team, made up of people from across the pensions landscape. I also have the unenviable challenge of ensuring that we deliver on our promises.
I’m immensely proud of how far the programme has come in the last six months. I’ve also been around the pensions landscape long enough to know that pensions dashboards have been on the horizon for many years. The sceptics among you may look at this programme and wonder if dashboards will ever happen.
The successes we outline in this progress update demonstrate that this programme is delivering and that we are making dashboards happen. If you have been in the ‘will this ever happen’ camp, now is the time to sit up and take notice.
Providing certainty
What everyone is seeking from us is certainty on a range of issues, including:
• the timeline for delivery
• the legislative and regulatory position
• the data standards that will apply to pension providers and schemes
• the technological solutions.
This progress update gets us closer on all of these fronts but it is clearly not the final answer to any of them.
Timeline
For the first time, we’ve set out a clear timeline for the programme, which articulates the steps we’ll take and when we expect them to happen. We’ve also explained the multiple dependencies, to help everyone understand who has responsibility for what. As our work continues and we become more certain, we will review and revise our plans. We’ll share these as soon as we can.
Data standards
In the last six months, we’ve undertaken significant research, led a formal call for input and worked with experts from across the industry and others to understand the data challenges. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be setting out what we’ve learnt from this work and what we think it means for the programme and data providers. We know that the information we share will not answer every question or resolve every challenge. However, it will provide more clarity than currently exists and a clear plan for where we go next.
Legislation and regulation
Responsibility for these areas rests largely with the Government, we have continued to support the passage of the pensions bill through parliament and are working closely with regulators to ensure that the work they are undertaking is informed by us.
Technology
We have finalised our digital architecture requirements and expanded our website content to explain more about the pensions dashboards ecosystem, along with publishing our progress update.
Our video gives an overview of how the pensions dashboard ecosystem works.
Our commitment
The programme has moved forwards on multiple fronts and we have far greater clarity on many issues. But there remains a long journey to travel.
We will continue to develop our work across all of the programme workstreams in the coming months. As we do this, our commitment to colleagues across the industry is that we will keep you informed and share as much as we can, as soon as we’re able to, in order to help make pensions dashboards a reality.
Stay connected
If you haven’t already, make sure you get the latest news from the programme by signing up to our monthly PDP newsletter for programme updates. You can also find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Keep safe and healthy. Best wishes, Jamey