How to get your scheme dashboard ready

There are already concerns being expressed that participation in the pensions dashboard will be difficult to achieve. Some of these seem to be arising from a perception that data quality will not be good enough and that potentially expensive data cleansing activity will be required.

But before looking at the detail, let us take a step back. For the dashboard to be successful, coverage is key. This, in itself, is fuelling the debate on compulsion.

In the short term however, to achieve maximum coverage, it needs to be easy for schemes to participate in the dashboard. What benefit would there be in making participation so onerous that nobody wants to do it?

Provide flexibility 

The focus therefore is to keep it simple, but to provide more information for individuals where the quality of their scheme data facilitates this. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the dashboard is just another way that your member can ask for their data.

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the dashboard is just another way that your member can ask for their data

One way is to provide flexibility and allow entry to the dashboard at different levels. This means that even if some data items are questionable, it will still be possible for schemes to be part of the dashboard while undertaking a data cleanse.

The data set for valuing a pension is not likely to be extensive and will almost certainly be flexible enough to allow for different approaches. For example, for deferred members, a defined benefit scheme will be able to show deferred pension at the date of leaving, plus the date of leaving as the valuation date. Defined contribution schemes can show individuals a current value and associated date.

For many people there will be an advantage in simply being able to confirm that they have a benefit in a scheme and finding out the contact details for the provider. It is likely that the mandatory data items for this aspect of the dashboard will be those that are already being held, such as the national insurance number, surname, forename and date of birth.

Schemes should be holding these data items and keeping them up to date for all sorts of reasons, not least for compliance, contacting members and managing governance and fraud risks.

The dashboard must evolve

The dashboard is also about engagement and helping people of all ages plan for their retirement, so moving through the levels to provide more information to support that objective will be of value and benefit to all stakeholders.

While schemes remain at the ‘find the pension’ level, they are likely to face an increase in enquiries from members wanting to understand the amount of their pension and when they can expect to receive it. The next level of dashboard participation could therefore be a ‘value the pension’ tool.

The dashboard project recognises that providers, trustees and administrators are looking for help in understanding what it means for data to be ‘dashboard ready’ and so is working with the industry to produce a suite of guidance designed to help with this. 

This guidance, due to be published towards the end of the year, will be produced by the industry for the industry, and will be fully aligned to the data standards which have been generated by the prototype project.

The focus of the current project is to help individuals find and understand the value of their pensions and to provide them with contact details. However, against our ever-evolving pensions landscape, with freedom and choice providing greater levels of flexibility, the dashboard must continue to evolve, also giving individuals a reason to return to the site.

Geraldine Brassett is director at the Pensions Administration Standards Association and chair of PASA’s pensions dashboard working group