Commenting on the Government’s publication of the Pension Dashboard consultation, Scott Finnie, Product Architect, Hymans Robertson, says

“We are very encouraged by the consultation paper.  The Government has clearly listened to feedback from a broad range of stakeholders and this is reflected positively in the document.  The balance of providing enough direction to enable the industry to deliver the dashboard (e.g. data security and state pension inclusion) while enabling the flexibility for consumers to benefit from industry innovation, through building their own dashboards and providing added value services, is welcome.

“The consultation recognises that standardising data access and security will enable innovation in user experience.  We applaud the government for recognising and supporting that distinction.  The inclusion of the state pension is a notable positive, and again we applaud that.  State pension will be a significant portion of retirement income for many people, so its inclusion is critical to a meaningful view. 

“In addition, mandating participation from scheme providers is similarly central to giving consumers a meaningful view of their aggregate income, so we are pleased to see this included.  Public Sector and DB schemes generally will need longer, so understanding the complexity that lies behind their participation will be key.  No consumers should be left behind over the long term, so we are pleased to see they are included.

“It is encouraging to see that recommendations clearly put the consumer at the heart of a secure, easy to use service where the individual is in control of their own data. A working dashboard will be transformational for helping consumers in so many ways across the lifetime savings industry.  It will be the second most positive pension development in a generation, after auto-enrolment.

“We look forward to working with Government and industry peers to deliver a successful Dashboard ecosystem that delivers better retirement outcomes.”