Editorial: News that the pensions dashboard will be taken forward by the Department for Work and Pensions has been welcomed by the pensions industry.
However, pensions and financial inclusion minister Guy Opperman did not announce any legislation to compel schemes to make their data accessible at this year’s annual conference of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.
Instead, he told delegates his department would conduct a feasibility study to explore how to deal with governance, whether compulsion was needed and what the best model of delivery would be.
It is understandable that the DWP wants to assess the impact of possible legislation on schemes before imposing data accessibility.
However, the industry is already in agreement that without legislation the project will limp along after launch and could even fall flat if the data gaps are too big. Given that this alternative would be unpalatable, it seems unnecessary to wait with legislating. Giving schemes a legislatory nudge now would allow them to be dashboard-ready when they need to be.
But on its own, the dashboard will not be enough to remedy poor financial resilience among the general population. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives Survey of more than 12,000 people showed that worryingly, half of UK adults show signs of financial vulnerability.
Many have unsecured debt, no pension, or both. These pressures will be difficult to ease while real wages are falling. News that inflation is rising – more than anticipated by the government – is only adding to the problem.
Pensioners of companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who receive no regular inflation increases for pre-1997 accruals, have now taken to campaigning in order to put political pressure on their former employers to change this.
And finally, the run-up to the Autumn Budget on November 22 has yielded another tax relief rumour, a further sign the policy mill is in full swing again after the summer’s election-imposed standstill. Plenty of ingredients for a very busy pensions agenda.
Sandra Wolf is editor at Pensions Expert. You can follow her on Twitter @SandraCWK and the team @pensions_expert.
