Guy Opperman, the U.K. minister for pensions and financial inclusion, called on a new retirement data tool to be an industry-led project, according to a statement published Tuesday.
The pension dashboard is intended to bring all occupational retirement savings, excluding the state pension information into one place and to be accessed via an online tool by plan participants who enroll into more than one plan.
"An industry-led dashboard, facilitated by government, will harness the best of industry innovation. We will continue to engage with industry on this model and government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary," Mr. Opperman said.
Mr. Opperman also said in the statement that the Department for Work and Pensions will launch a formal consultation into collective defined contribution plans in autumn.
"Collective forms of pension saving offer interesting new possibilities, and the department is currently working through proposals for the first collective defined contribution plans in the U.K.," Mr. Opperman said.
In October 2017, Mr. Opperman said the government was taking oversight of the retirement dashboard to deliver good information on retirement to consumers.
The savings industry has called on the government to remain the driving force behind the project.
"For the dashboard to succeed, government need to be in the driving seat, not in the passenger seat," said Adrian Boulding, director of policy at the £600 million ($777 million) NOW: Pensions, London, in an email. "It's clear that legislation is essential to compel all providers to share their data with the dashboard and the inclusion of the state pension is a must. For most people, the state pension will still make up the majority of their retirement savings and a dashboard without this data would be pointless. A large number of people also have public-sector pensions and government need to ensure that this data is available. We hope the feasibility study will shed more light on how the government sees its role in this potentially revolutionary project."
The government's feasibility study of online service for the state pension will be published shortly.
Nigel Peaple, director of policy and research at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said in separate comment: "We're very pleased the government has stated its commitment to the delivery of a dashboard, and that it will facilitate this project. However, while the industry is strongly behind this initiative, it's absolutely vital the government does not leave this solely to the industry and remains closely involved."
