Creating pensions dashboard 'depends on political will'
Establishing a pension dashboard in the UK is a question of political will and not technical details according to a Dutch expert.
Speaking at a briefing to journalists at Aviva Life in London on 28 April, InAdmin N.V managing director Rik Douwes (pictured above) also questioned why it should take as long as three years to create one.
The Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) published in March suggested a dashboard could be running by 2019.
"The UK should just get on with the task as all projects need to start somewhere," said Douwes. "You don't need three years of programming time to upload information in a standard format. Why should it take so long? It is more the political will to do it and government drive to push it than it is a technical [issue]."
"The UK could look to its neighbours for inspiration," he added. "There are so many examples in Europe of operating dashboards and the technology is very simple. There is a database. It has pointers to third-party administrators and pension funds.
"The only thing [pension providers] they have to do is unlock their data and present it in a standardised format; you don't need three years of programming time to upload information in a standard format."
The national register in Holland started with the uploading of annual statements. If the UK did that, records would at least be all in one place, he continued.
There have been many calls for a dashboard to be established.
In March consumer group Which demanded George Osborne launch a pensions dashboard in the Budget.
The Pensions Regulator also launched a consultation into technology which closed on 12 February.
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