Following the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announcement today for a "reset" of the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP), the industry has expressed its disappointment, but not surprise, at the delay.

Technology partner to the PDP, Equisoft, products director, Nick Meredith, stated that while the deferral of the implementation of the PDP as “disappointing, and we are frustrated that there is no hard deadline for restart, it is not surprising that with a project of this complexity there will be some delays”.

However, this pause should mean that all sides “will hopefully be ready to move ahead with a fully comprehensive and effective solution, which is good news for individuals and organisations with multiple pensions everywhere”, he added.

LCP partner and former Pensions Minister, Steve Webb described the delay as “deeply frustrating”.

“The end goal, of a website where people can see all of their pensions in one place would be of huge value to pension savers," he stated, continuing: "It will help people to find pension pots they have lost track of, and will enable them to rationalise and make best use of the pots that they do have.

"The government must ensure that any delay is kept to an absolute minimum. The lack of a firm new timetable will leave industry in limbo and this uncertainty must be resolved as soon as possible."

PLSA director of policy and advocacy, Nigel Peaple, acknowledged that the PDP is an “enormous task” involving a complex central architecture to be built by government, the connection of tens of thousands of pension schemes, and the identification of millions of people.

“We welcome the government’s promise to ensure that, once the current issues with the central digital architecture are resolved, the industry will be given adequate time and technical information to play its part in this endeavour,” he stated.

“Today’s announcement that the project will be delayed, apparently by several months, is disappointing but it is the right decision. The government is wise to prioritise doing the job well rather doing it in a rush which would result in a bad outcome for the pension industry and savers.”

Pensions Administration Standards Association (Pasa) chair, Kim Gubler, noted that getting thousands of schemes ready for connection over the next two years “was always a huge challenge for the industry and our members have been expressing concerns – a delay in the connection timetable buys some welcome contingency to achieve this”.

“Our advice for pension schemes, providers and administrators is to continue their preparation, following the guidance and support provided by PASA and The Pensions Regulator, and to aim to be ready by their staging date as defined in current legislation – but now with the benefit of this extra contingency if it’s needed, she added.

Association of British Insurers (ABI) director of policy, long-term savings, health and protection, Yvonne Braun, also agreed that a reset is "appropriate to work through the complex technical solutions and challenges".

She stated: "While having to delay such an important programme is always disappointing, we remain strong advocates for the project to progress as quickly as it safely can.

“It's right that the regulatory deadlines for providers are pushed back in line with this delay.

"There needs to be enough time for testing and onboarding, with the industry closely involved and learning shared widely, to ensure that dashboards work for consumers and that they can fulfil their potential. It is also important that work to help firms prepare to connect should continue during this reset."

Meanwhile, AJ Bell head of policy development, Rachel Vahey, stated that the DWP "has torn up the plans for pensions dashboards and has decided to start again".

"After years of work across the industry and multiple government bodies, this a staggering development and means dashboards are now at risk of being mothballed until the next parliament, and may never become a reality at all," she warned.

“For the industry this is frustrating, with countless hours of careful work put into developing dashboards. More importantly, this a huge let down for consumers. Dashboards had the potential to empower pension savers but they’ve been badly let down by a project that has over-promised and under-delivered."

According to Vahey, the scrapping of the timetable setting out connection times for pension schemes, and a possible launch date for the public has left the public and industry "rudderless with no idea of the current state of play".

There is no date for dashboards launch, and there are now major doubts about whether the project can be delivered before the next election, she said. “The government has fumbled this opportunity. And in doing so they have let down UK pension savers...The government should have got this right from the start. But they have now effectively pulled the plug just weeks before connection was due to start.”

Aegon head of pensions, Kate Smith, acknowledged that it had been aware since the beginning of the year that there was ‘trouble at the mill’ "but are surprised that the DWP is taking such a radical step by announcing a reset".

"We are disappointed about the reset, which in reality likely means an implementation delay, but we recognise that it’s really important that everything is in place before schemes connect to the dashboard ecosystem and definitely before the public accesses dashboards," she said.

There’ is now strong possibility that the dashboard scheme onboarding phased timeline could be moved back into next year, Smith added, "giving the pension dashboard programme more time to prepare for this incredibly complex programme".

“Ultimately we believe that pension dashboards have the potential to be a gamechanger, not only connecting people with their pensions but also increasing engagement and improved financial wellbeing," she stated. "However, this reset means that the public may have to wait until 2025 or beyond to access dashboards to see all their pension online and in one place.”

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