Pensions dashboards will never truly be finished and continuous improvement will be needed, Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) industry principal, Chris Curry, has said.

Speaking at the Pensions Age Northern Conference, Curry explained that even after the MoneyHelper dashboard launches, further work and refinements will continue.

“We are not announcing the launch [of the MoneyHelper dashboard] when everything is perfect. We are announcing the launch when things are good enough, and we know there is still going to be a steady path of improvement beyond that,” he said.

“Dashboards, to be honest, will never be finished. There is always continuous improvement,” he said, pointing to Sweden's dashboard as an example, noting that it is now on its ninth iteration in 20 years.

“They update very frequently, depending on what information you get. [For the MoneyHelper dashboard] you can see already, there might be more information we can add about costs and charges or value for money when that framework comes through,” Curry explained.

He also noted that, at present, the dashboard only shows pensions before they come into payment, and that in future there may be a demand to include pensions in payment.

Curry said the PDP is also exploring features such as dedicated access, which would allow financial advisers and guidance services to use the dashboard.

“There will be lots of continued iteration beyond the launch. What we focused on at the moment is making sure we get a good version out that people can use for most of their needs, and then we'll take it forward from there,” he said.

Earlier in his session at the conference, Curry confirmed that “significant progress” has been made over the past 12 months, with more than 70 million pension scheme member records now connected to the dashboard, covering 85 per cent of all the memberships that need to be connected.

He also confirmed that the dashboard will be launched in the next financial year (April 2027 - March 2028).

However, he noted that there is still some uncertainty, as the PDP needs to determine the outcome of testing before it can be confident that the dashboard is ready.

“There are a number of different features that we know we need to see before we are confident, or will be confident, that we can give the go ahead to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who will give the six-month notice to industry,” Curry continued.

He added that coverage is already in a strong position, but that the remaining focus is on security, data quality, and customer experience.

“All of those things, we will find out more each month as we go through testing, and we'll start to build up a picture and a process of the readiness for the launch to go ahead," he said.

Curry reaffirmed that the PDP is committed to providing an update on the dashboard's launch date as it approaches the end of the regulatory connection window.

---