As the pensions dashboard digital architecture moves forward, the first six-month test phase is now nearing completion. Aviva, Bud and Moneyhub are the commercial providers working to test the scheme and will now go on to refine the onboarding process alongside the Money and Pension Service’s separate non-commercial dashboard.
From next year, we can expect the dashboard to be phased in and staging dates (even for smaller schemes) will come around sooner than you think. So it’s important to ensure your pension scheme is compliant and ready to go when asked to connect.
Know your staging date
The first schemes to get involved will be large schemes, master trusts and most personal and stakeholder schemes – this will be followed by two further waves as shown below and it is expected that TPR will write to all schemes to confirm their scheme specific staging date in due course – this is expected to be based on relevant membership numbers submitted on the 2021-22 Scheme Return.

Consider setting up a dashboard sub-group
At 20-20 Trustees we are currently advising large schemes to set up a sub group whose sole focus is getting dashboard ready. This is likely to be even more important for smaller schemes where Trustee meetings are generally less frequent and the level of third-party support may be limited due to cost constraints.
Whilst Pension Dashboard compliance might seem like a problem for another day, staging dates will come around quicker than you think. If we take an example of a scheme with 500 relevant members and assume the staging date will be April 2025 (the mid-point of Wave 2), if the trustees meet every quarter then they only have 11 meetings between now and their staging date. Even if 1 hour is dedicated to discussing dashboards in each of these meetings it only totals 11 hours – in reality, it is likely to be far less, especially when you know a triennial valuation will occur within that period too which will likely dominate a couple of those meetings.
The three D’s (Data, Data and Data)
The crucial element to success is having relevant and accurate data to feed into the dashboard when required. But even before you get to that stage, Trustees need to decide on the level of input data they will require from the Dashboard user before they feel able to safely confirm a match. Do you have any gaps in your data and if so, how will you resolve them? The responsibility for data matching lies firmly with Trustees and you may want to consider external help and/or training for Trustees so they are familiar with the dashboard and the terminology around it.
Don’t forget those third parties such as IT providers, they also need to be focused on your staging date to make sure any software glitches are ironed out. Data protection is also going to be a hot topic.
It is vital that your framework is up to the task and of course there will be new responsibilities for data controllers and administrators – are you confident you have the right team(s) for the job? Admin contracts will need to be reviewed to ensure they are sufficiently robust – it should be noted that a number of admin providers are likely to use an Integrated Service Provider (ISP) to assist them with the connection between their back office platforms and the dashboard. Trustees will need to ensure they are happy with any ISP being utilized as well as the due diligence undertaken as part of their appointment by the administrator.
Keep on top of legislation
There are draft regulations which outline the duties for Trustees to join their scheme to the dashboards and to offer pension data on request whenever a ‘match’ is found. In addition, dashboard providers also have a duty to ensure the data they provide is presented correctly and trustees will as always have to comply with certain legal obligations.
Dashboards have the potential to be a really good thing for pension scheme members, but only if they are user friendly and the information is correct and informative.
If this all sounds quite scary then you are not alone in thinking so. If you would like to discuss the potential support we can offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
With over 40 years-experience in trusteeship, 20-20 Trustees is an award-winning professional independent trustee organisation, committed to making a difference in the world of pensions. Whatever your trustee requirement, inc. dashboards, we can help. Contact us today!