Chris Curry: Reflections on our second town hall

Last week, we were delighted to host our second in-person pensions dashboards town hall event in London. It was a real pleasure to welcome around 100 delegates from across the pensions industry, government and regulators for a day of programme updates and knowledge sharing.

A particular highlight of the day was hearing from the Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, who gave the opening address. We were thrilled to have the Minister join us to open the event, and are grateful for his support as the programme moves forward. His remarks set the tone for a productive day and reinforced the importance of what we’re working together to deliver.

As part of his address, the Minister announced that the State Pension has successfully connected to the pensions dashboards ecosystem. This was coupled with an update on connection progress, confirming that hundreds of pension providers and schemes and over 20 million pension records are now connected. This achievement reflects the collaborative efforts between industry and partners, and it was gratifying to be able to share the news and witness the enthusiasm in the room.

The Minister confirmed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide 6 months’ notice before the launch of the state-provided MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard, a welcome announcement that provides clarity for industry stakeholders. He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to private sector dashboards, as we pursue discovery work into this programme area.

The late morning sessions provided a valuable mix of perspectives, starting with a series of updates from across the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), including strategic direction, programme progress and the development of the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard.

This was complemented by the external viewpoint from the regulators and industry participants, both of whom helped convey how much the programme has achieved on connection progress since the last town hall event in December 2024.

In the afternoon, two breakout sessions focused on the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard. The first session explored its design and development, including a demonstration of the dashboard and details of our consumer testing approach.

The second session outlined our consumer research methods, highlighting how we’re ensuring diverse user needs are reflected in the dashboard design, and findings from research undertaken. Both sessions reinforced the importance of putting the consumer at the heart of our work.

Sharing our consumer testing approach and observing the response from delegates was, for me, one of the most significant and valuable parts of the day. It was clear there is real desire for continued and strengthened collaboration between MaPS and industry to make sure we get the first dashboard right for consumers, providing a service that is clear, trustworthy and genuinely useful.

The day served as a reminder of the benefits of bringing together all those who are working hard to make dashboards a reality, to share ideas, prompt discussion and celebrate progress being made. I would like to thank all speakers, delegates and colleagues for their part in making the day a success.

We are already looking forward to bringing industry, government and partners together again at our next in-person event. In the meantime, the town hall event slides are available on our website.