UK government pensions minister Emma Reynolds has announced that the its MoneyHelper Pension Dashboard service will be made available before commercial dashboards.

Reynolds said it was too early to confirm a launch date to the public, with the DWP previously saying that the launch date will only be announced once they are assured most pension schemes have connected and the dashboards are working well.

The Pension Dashboards Programme (PDP) has been given the task of developing the Pension Dashboards ecosystem and organising for most schemes to connect to it.

Pension schemes must connect to the dashboard ecosystem by October 2026 at the latest, but have been urged to connect earlier, starting from April 2025.

The FCA is expected to publish the final rules of the governance framework for commercial dashboards before the end of the year.

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said: “Pension Dashboards will have the power to dramatically improve pension engagement. They will give people an overall picture of their pension savings, letting them know how much they have saved so far, where it is, and, importantly, how to add to it and how to get hold of it.

“It’s therefore reassuring the government is maintaining its commitment to such an important project, especially when the public finance purse strings are so constrained. We need to keep up the momentum to develop dashboards and drive this initiative to delivery.

“Pension Dashboards need to cover most pension schemes, work efficiently, and be easy to use. Obviously, the Pension Dashboards Programme (PDP) should concentrate on getting all these elements right. But there is simply no point building dashboards if no-one is going to use them.

“Restricting the dashboards to a single one – the government’s own version – means not as many people will be aware of the dashboard or use it, potentially missing out on the opportunity to trace lost pension schemes, but also to put their pension savings back on track.

“A ‘soft’ launch could make sense, whilst dashboards are tested to ensure they are working as expected. But for dashboards to be a success it’s essential that commercial dashboards are launched as soon as possible, allowing them to play their role in making sure pension savers are aware of them and use them.”

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