The Department of Work and Pensions has published a new consultation on two issues relating to the pensions dashboards.
These cover the way in which the ‘go-live’ date will be announced, alongside a consultation on communication between the Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) and the Pensions Regulator.
However former pensions minister and LCP partner Steve Webb says consultation around this first issue is ‘missing the point’ – as it is not consulting on whether there should be a phased introduction of these new platforms.
According to the consultation the DWP will not finalise the the go-live date — referred to by the government as the ‘Dashboards Available Point’ (DAP) — until certain conditions have been met in terms of coverage and evidence of user understanding and experience, although some broad indication will be given as to the likely date.
Current expectations are that this may be in summer 2024, though there has yet to be any official indication of the intended date.
Webb says that although the consultation makes brief mention of the suggestion of a phased go-live, there is no indication that the DWP is planning anything other than a ‘big bang’ switch on, albeit following a period of extensive ‘beta testing’.
He says a sudden switch-on of dashboards could cause huge headaches to pension schemes and providers and could also be a negative experience for users.
With a ‘big bang’ switch-on, the dashboard infrastructure could face a huge ‘surge’ in demand, needing much greater capacity and resilience than would be needed for a more gradual process. In addition, once users see their data it is likely to lead to a surge in queries to schemes, who may not be able to cope with the demand.
Webb says: “The big issue which DWP’s latest consultation ignores is whether there should be a ‘big bang’ switch-on of dashboards at all. If the whole project goes live on a single day there could be a huge spike in demand, especially if the launch attracts widespread media attention.
“Pension schemes may face real challenges in dealing with all the follow-up queries and engagement from members. A phased approach, perhaps by age, would be much more sensible, allowing the whole system to bed in and proper plans to be made.
“As things stand, schemes may have just 90 days’ notice of a major call on their resources, and may find it very difficult to put in place the surge capacity to provide a positive user experience”.
His views were shared by many across the pensions industry.
Commenting on this latest DWP consultants Aegon head of pensions Kate Smith says: “The pension dashboard programme is gaining momentum as we inch closer to April 2023 when schemes and providers will have to start connecting to the pension dashboard ecosystem.
“But one jigsaw piece was missing – when will the public actually be able to access dashboards. The DWP is proposing a ‘big bang’ launch date, potentially after giving only 90 days official notice, which is full of challenges. 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. But all 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.
“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. A longer lead in, say of 6 months, along with a government and industry-wide promotion campaign is needed to ensure the dashboard ecosystem doesn’t fall over. This needs to be the priority after all the effort which has gone into building dashboards – to be successful the delivery needs to work for all.”
Hymans Robertson client manager for third-party administration Karl Lidgley says: “IWhile greater certainty is most welcome we believe that the 90 day goal does not provide enough scope in the current climate to match resource requirement to meet anticipated demands.
“There is not capacity in the industry to deal with the extra member engagement that dashboards are likely to generate for administrators, profitability is tight and resourcing to meet these needs, at 90 days’ notice, will be almost impossible in the current recruitment market.
“We would encourage the DWP to work with providers, in a live environment, as part of a trial launch to make sure full testing takes place and effective functionality and timescales are imbedded, prior to a full market launch to minimise disruption and ensure the industry is ready.”
Responding to this comments from the pensions industry a DWP spokesperson said: “Pensions dashboards will bring pensions into the digital age and we continue to work with key delivery partners to drive the project forward. All relevant announcements are – and will continue to be – sufficiently communicated to industry and other relevant stakeholders.”