The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has published updated standards, including a revised data usage guide, to support the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) consultation on the draft regulations for pensions dashboards.

The PDP highlighted the DWP’s consultation, which was launched today (31 January), as a “significant step towards the realisation of pension dashboards”, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also expected to consult on parallel proposals for personal pension providers within "the next few weeks".

To support stakeholders responding to the consultation, the programme has published updated information about the scope of its standards and how it will be setting them, including indicative examples of what the standards could contain.

PDP clarified, however, that the standards are expected to evolve further to incorporate learnings from the ongoing test phases, and refine the onboarding processes and functionality of pensions dashboards.

This includes an updated data usage guide, design standards scope, reporting standards scope, technical standards, and a guide to the code of connection, which will include security, service and operational standards.

Industry experts previously raised concerns over some aspects of the data standards when initially published in December 2020, particularly the estimated retirement income (ERI).

However, PDP explained that it has updated the standards to reflect discussions with industry working groups, as well as the recent data call for input and staging call for input, and input from government and the pensions industry.

Further information has been provided on the ERI, for instance, including an expanded list of ERI data, such as an optional ERI warning, which data providers may set to provide appropriate significant warnings about the value displayed.

In addition to this, the guidance explained that, to allow public service schemes to meet specific legal requirements as a result of the McCloud age discrimination rulings, they may send two blocks of data for each estimated income: one based on the legacy scheme and the alternate value in the new scheme.

PDP also included fixed values for certain coded data elements to generate discussion as to how best to meet the user need for understanding the estimated retirement income, with these to be tested further during the alpha and beta phases of the PDP.

The group acknowledged, however, that there have been a number of questions regarding different benefit bases and possible exclusions, providing a summary of some of the common benefit bases or issues that the data structure will support in light of this.

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