The Government has restated its commitment to delivering pensions dashboards in a written statement.
Progress update report
May 2025
Pensions dashboards will help individuals view their pensions information online, securely and all in one place, thereby supporting better planning for retirement and growing financial wellbeing.
Introduction
The latest progress update report from the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) comes at the time of a major step towards delivering dashboards. In April 2025, industry reached the first connection date in guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Earlier that month, we were able to announce that the first pension provider had successfully completed connection.
This report outlines PDP’s ongoing work to prepare and guide industry through their connection journeys. This includes how industry participants have played a vital role in helping test and refine connection processes.
There are also updates on standards for pension providers and schemes, which have now been approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland).
As part of the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), PDP is closely aligned with the development of the MoneyHelper pensions dashboard. This report provides an update on how this is progressing, including plans for consumer testing later this year.
The government is committed to delivering private sector dashboards. Information on how PDP has been engaging with industry on how to prepare for these dashboards is also included.
As well as updates from PDP’s partners at DWP, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the report also includes the latest on the work of the pensions dashboards advisory group. From the start, this programme has depended on collaboration between industry, government and regulators. It is truly positive that, thanks to this combined effort, we find ourselves at this critical stage for dashboards.
Chris Curry
Principal of the Pensions Dashboards Programme
Connection progress
PDP has been working closely with around 20 participants made up of pension providers and schemes, third-party administrators and integrated service providers (ISPs). This cohort has been building direct routes to connection with the dashboards ecosystem. As part of our delivery plan, they have been going through the connection process in order that the programme was ready for the start of the wider industry connection dates in guidance, in April 2025.
All these participants have begun their connection journeys and are at varying stages of the process. Of the 20 participants, 4 have completed their connection journey. These participants (or connection providers) have since been adding schemes and pension providers for connection as per DWP’s staged timetable, with the first pension provider connected on 17 April. Of the remainder, 5 have recently completed integration testing and are in the final stages while many others are close to entering this stage. A small number of participants are ready and waiting to begin integration testing as soon as a slot is made available. It is necessary for PDP to carefully manage the number of participants we have in integration testing at the same time. As each organisation has moved through the process, PDP has carefully monitored their progress before inviting more participants to get started. This approach has allowed the programme to test and refine the process for connection and generate valuable insights for other organisations.
PDP has been continuously learning from the experiences of participants as they go through the connection journey. The feedback received, and practical experiences, have been extremely helpful in identifying issues and making improvements. Based on insights gained, PDP has made improvements to guidance and standards, supporting documentation and our backstage processes, which should ensure a smoother connection journey for others.
Over the first few months of 2025, PDP’s primary focus has been on continuing connection with participants, with as many as possible connected by the end of April. PDP is working with all its participants to complete their connection journeys as soon as possible. This is a complex process involving different types of organisations. As set out by the programme in December, a number of industry participants have not completed their connection journeys by the end of April.
PDP is partnering closely with the FCA and TPR, who understand the position and have provided reassurance they will take a pragmatic approach. At the current time, both regulators have been clear there will be no regulatory intervention for pension providers and schemes who are unable to meet their ‘connect by’ dates in guidance solely due to their dependence on an industry participant who has yet to connect.
Connection of providers and schemes by industry participants began in April 2025, and PDP is confident all pension providers and schemes in scope will be able to connect by the regulatory deadline of 31 October 2026. As it stands, the remaining cohort of participants could realistically complete their connection journeys in summer 2025.
Pension providers and schemes should be working towards their ‘connect by’ date as set out in the March 2024 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance, whether they are connecting directly or through their administrator or ISP. PDP has published guidance on how to connect directly and on how to connect through a third party. This guidance can be found in the connection hub on the PDP website.
Standards for pension providers and schemes
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), through PDP, is empowered by law to set standards for pension providers and schemes to connect, and remain connected, to the dashboards ecosystem. This includes data, technical and reporting standards, as well as the code of connection, comprising security, service, connection, technical and operational standards.
Standards for pension providers and schemes have now been approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland). This approval was the final stage in enabling us to publish these standards as a legally binding set of documents, following consultation, development and iteration. We would like to thank the industry partners who worked closely with us on this process.
All providers and schemes in scope for dashboards must comply with the approved standards, which can be found on the 'Standards' page of the PDP website. Each version is named ‘2.0’, for example, ‘Data standards version 2.0’.
In future, standards may need to be updated, for example, to reflect legislative changes, industry needs, regulatory changes or technological advancements. We will work with industry to understand the impact of change and consider appropriate lead times for implementation before further releases are published.
Standards for private sector dashboard operators are being developed and will be published separately.
Read the transcript
Read the transcript
The standards for pension providers and schemes in scope for pensions dashboards have been approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland).
This is a significant milestone for the Pensions Dashboards Programme, taking us one step further towards pensions dashboards becoming a reality for consumers.
Standards are a set of rules and controls for the practical operation of pensions dashboards services and the digital infrastructure supporting them.
The data standards set out the data formatting requirements that pension providers and schemes must follow when returning data to dashboards.
The technical standards define the way those connecting to the dashboards ecosystem communicate with the central digital architecture and each other.
The reporting standards set out the requirements for generating, recording and reporting data to measure service performance, and support oversight and regulatory compliance.
The code of connection sets out the requirements to connect and stay connected, ensuring all ecosystem participants are managed appropriately and securely.
This approval is the final stage in enabling us to publish these standards as a legally binding set of documents, following consultation, development and iteration. We would like to thank the industry partners who worked closely with us on this process.
All providers and schemes in scope for dashboards must comply with the approved standards, which can be found on the PDP website. Each version is named ‘2.0’.
In future, standards may need to be updated. For example, to reflect legislative changes, industry needs, regulatory changes or technological advancements.
The standards for pensions dashboards services are being developed and will be published separately.
For more information, take a look at the PDP website or contact us directly via support.
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MoneyHelper pensions dashboard and consumer testing
Last October, the Minister for Pensions confirmed the government’s commitment to delivering pensions dashboards, and announced that the MoneyHelper pensions dashboard being developed by MaPS will be made available to the public before private sector dashboards are launched. MaPS and DWP aim for a dashboard to be made available to the public at the earliest possible point, and the prioritisation of the MoneyHelper pensions dashboard will help enable this. It will help generate valuable insights into user behaviour, which will be instrumental in shaping future iterations of dashboards. Its public availability will also ensure greater confidence in operational delivery, security and consumer protection.
The MoneyHelper pensions dashboard will sit on the MoneyHelper website and will follow the same look and feel, accessibility and design principles as the complementary MoneyHelper services. MaPS has started to share a prototype with industry to demonstrate what the dashboard will look like and its functionality. Feedback received has been reviewed and is being incorporated into the development of a high-quality product.
The decision for when the dashboard will be publicly available will be informed by factors such as whether the service is safe, secure and reliable, as monitored by DWP, MaPS and regulators.
Now the first pension providers and schemes are connected to the live dashboards ecosystem, MaPS will be undertaking consumer testing with real individuals using the service to see real data about their pensions. This is crucial to demonstrate that the end-to-end user experience of the service is positive, safe and that the service meets users’ needs.
MaPS’s and PDP’s user research with prototypes has already informed and will continue to inform the ongoing design and development of the dashboards service and provide assurance that dashboards standards are fit for purpose. However, testing with real users viewing their actual data will ensure that the dashboard service is delivering a positive experience for the user.
This type of testing can be carried out at scale and provide insights on, for example, user behaviours and the success of data matching. MaPS will begin a programme of end-to-end consumer testing in summer 2025.
The testing will be taking place in 2 phases. The first phase (from summer 2025) is moderated testing where users will be invited to participate via workplace staff pension schemes and research panels. The second phase (from autumn 2025) will involve inviting members to participate via providers, schemes and other sources.
MaPS has consulted with industry to see how it can collaborate to bring scheme members to test the MoneyHelper pensions dashboard service. Industry feedback gathered at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 has been used to inform the development of a baselined consumer testing plan which will be published soon. Collaboration with industry will continue throughout testing beginning with scheme specific contributions to moderated sessions to understand and respond to the user experience of phase 1 and continuing in phase 2 with regular, thematic reporting of findings.