A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) on pensions dashboards has recorded progress in several key areas as the programme gathers momentum.
Following its review at the beginning of this year, the NAO report highlights the public and industry benefits of millions of people being able to view their pensions information in one place, and to help find ‘lost’ pots in a secure online location.
The report points to areas of challenge but also identifies the net benefit of the programme to be around £211 million.
The Pensions Dashboards Programme acknowledges the main findings of the NAO’s report. The reset process included a review of processes and arrangements, but also concluded there are no fundamental issues with the technical solution for dashboards. Work continues to address areas for improvement as industry prepares to connect to the dashboards environment from August this year.
Oliver Morley, CEO of the Money and Pensions Service, which is responsible for the Pensions Dashboards Programme, said:
“This report reflects the hard work of a dedicated team to inject real momentum into the dashboards programme, with support from the Money and Pensions Service, Department for Work and Pensions and wider stakeholder community.
“We’re making sustained progress, delivering the information industry needs to be able to connect and so enable us to transform financial planning for generations to come.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson added:
“As the NAO recognises, the Pensions Dashboards Programme has made significant progress towards delivering a service which will transform how savers plan for their retirement.
“Action taken by the DWP to reset the Programme to get it on track for successful delivery means connection testing will begin from August 2024 before a wider onboarding of pension schemes and providers from April 2025.”