The Pensions Regulator will kick off a regulatory initiative on data quality this year and will engage with schemes where data scores are poor or “too good to be true” in preparation for pensions dashboards, its interim executive director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice has said.

TPR will begin to check schemes' data quality as the launch of the pensions dashboards nears, Louise Davey said at the annual conference of the Pensions Administration Standards Association on Tuesday.  

“As we get closer to the launch of pensions dashboards, time is really running out to deal with data,” she said. “So we'll be stepping up our focus in this space, starting this year with a regulatory initiative on data quality. We'll be challenging schemes who aren't measuring their data or trying to improve it.”

 

The regulatory initiative will look at completeness and validity in terms of how schemes have been measuring their data, she explained, and drill into potential problem areas.  

“We will also want to engage more deeply with schemes where either the data scores are very poor, but also where the data scores might appear to be too good to be true,” Davey said.

Asked if data accuracy will also be assessed, she noted that it was for trustees to do this, but that TPR wants to learn more about how trustees undertake these assessments and satisfy themselves about the accuracy of data: “We want to understand what the processes are and what controls are in place that trustees have to make sure that's happening.”

TPR first set out its expectations on data in 2010, asking all schemes to measure common and scheme specific data at least annually and put plans in place to address any issues and make improvements, Davey pointed out, with both TPR and PASA providing updated guidance on this several times.

Data is coming into focus as savers will be able to see it on pensions dashboards once these are live. The connection timetable to the dashboards digital architecture was due to be set in law, but the government then decided that there would only be one ‘hard stop’ deadline for scheme connection, on 31 October 2026.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions published guidance last month with a staging profile it expects schemes to follow, starting with master trusts one year from now.
 

   

   

Asked how comfortable she is that the pensions industry will be ready for dashboards, Davey said she was optimistic. 

"We know that there's a lot of work to do,” she admitted, stressing that it would be important to adhere to the staging guidance. 

“We will want to make sure that trustees working with their administrators are having regard to that guidance, and if they're choosing not to connect by the date in that staging timeline, we'll want to understand a bit more about why,” she said.  

The DWP stated that trustees “must have regard” to the guidance to be compliant, meaning they must consider it when making decision and keep audit trails for decisions.  

Davey said there was a risk that if schemes do not adhere to the timeline in the guidance, there will be a bottleneck in October 2026.  

“So we'll be doing a lot of communication, we'll be writing to schemes 12 months ahead of their staging profile dates and helping them through the process, we will be doing everything we can to make sure the schemes are ready for it,” she said.  

Calling dashboards “a real game changer”, Davey said TPR is keen that savers can access it “as soon as possible”.  

The aim of dashboards is to reconnect people with lost pension pots, of which there are 2.8m worth a combined £27bn, as well as to ensure that savers have a comprehensive view of their pensions, Davey said. Providing an overview of pots could, however, diminish in importance as a plan to create auto-consolidation of small pots and a central clearing house are also going ahead, with an industry delivery group set up in February and chaired by the DWP. 
   

   

Davey said the dashboards will ‘morph’ over time, and have new capabilities built in. 

“I think once we've got the consolidation of small pots – there will still be large pots as well that won't be consolidated – but also we're in a place where we're still at a point where people do have a large number of pots, both defined benefit and defined contribution, all of which need to be reflected on the dashboard,” she said.  

“Whilst... what's built into it will no doubt evolve over time, we can see that there's always going to be a purpose for people to be able to see all of their pension provision in one place, not least the state pension as well, because let's not forget that that's an important part for many people as well of their pension provision,” Davey added. 

Do you think pension funds are prepared for connecting to the dashboards architecture?