Dashboards: 90 days’ notice for 'go live' date proposed
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A new pensions dashboards consultation, published on Tuesday, seeks views on the notice period to industry before people will have access to dashboards, and on powers to allow information sharing between the Pensions Regulator and the Money and Pensions Service.
The Department for Work and Pensions issued a consultation about dashboards regulations in late January this year and has now published a further consultation to seek views on two elements of the draft Pensions Dashboards Regulations, and on a further supporting measure.
Its new consultation has only two questions. The first focusses on how much notice industry needs to have for learning when the ‘Dashboards Available Point’ will be. This is the point at which the public can use dashboards. The earlier consultation specified the schedule for schemes to connect to the dashboards infrastructure but no date for making dashboards publicly available.
Respondents to the previous consultation questioned how the ‘go live’ would be determined. Some suggested that the rollout should begin before dashboards fully cover all pension schemes, and others wanted to see a staged rollout.
The DWP is now proposing that the date for making dashboards public will be specified by the secretary of state for work and pensions, who will give industry three months’ notice. It adds that “there will be significant communications between the government, MaPS, and industry in the lead up to any announcement and so at the point at which the DAP is announced, it should not come as a surprise”.
In determining the date, the secretary of state must be satisfied that the dashboard ecosystem is ready to support the widespread use of pensions dashboards, and would consult with MaPS, TPR and the FCA, the consultation states.
In addition, a controlled set of volunteer data providers will connect to the dashboards ecosystem to test that it works as it should before the rollout is announced. The DWP said the Pensions Dashboards Programme, a part of MaPS which is undertaking the project, has worked with industry to find volunteer providers.
Once the date for making dashboards public is confirmed, the DWP, in partnership with MaPS, will publicise it “to help build engagement and drive individuals to dashboards from the start”.
Should there be a six-month lead in?
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said a 90-day notice would not be sufficient.
“A 90-day warm up may work well for the public, but it doesn’t give the pension industry time to gear-up for any early surge in member queries. Some schemes and providers will be more ready than others.
Smith said all stakeholders will have to plan resources well in advance to deal with the public’s initial demand, which could be high due to promotion of the dashboards from the government and industry. “There needs to be more join-up to understand how this will work,” she said.
Smith argued a six-month period is needed “to ensure the dashboard ecosystem doesn’t fall over”, adding: “We want the public to have a good experience of dashboards from day one, not having to queue virtually to use it if they are caught in a log jam. This could lead to disengagement with some simply giving up or not returning.”
TPR and MaPS set to share information about schemes
The second point of the consultation is around sharing information about schemes between TPR and MaPS, or more specifically the PDP. The government notes that TPR holds “key information to enable planning for implementation” and will be supporting the secure onboarding of schemes, as well as overseeing scheme compliance.
“The PDP and TPR need to be able to share information with each other about schemes,” the DWP said. A new provision is now proposed to enable MaPS to disclose information to TPR in relation to pensions dashboard services. This could include data from TPR’s Scheme Register, and management information about dashboards that MaPS holds which will help TPR check scheme compliance.
Is three months sufficient for industry to get ready for the 'go live' date?
