Less than four in 10 (39 per cent) pension professionals have a project plan in place for pensions dashboards, despite the government's expectation for larger schemes to connect to the pensions dashboard ecosystem by this time next year, a survey by LCP revealed.

The government's latest update confirmed that larger pension schemes will be expected to have completed connection by the end of April 2025, with connection testing to support wider industry connection to begin from early 2025.

However, LCP's research found that 42 per cent of pension professionals don’t have a project plan in place for pension dashboards, while 19 per cent were unsure if they did.

Further uncertainty was highlighted in relation to how schemes are planning to connect to the dashboards ecosystem, as over half (54 per cent) of respondents were unsure how their scheme will connect, while just over one third planning to use an integrated service provider (ISP) and around 11 per cent are building their own solution.

The survey, conducted during a recent LCP webinar, suggested that there is a “long journey to go” for schemes preparedness for pension dashboards, raising concerns that a lack of preparedness could lead to a “capacity crunch” next year as deadlines for connectivity approach.

In addition to this, LCP stressed the need for pension schemes to put in place "surge capacity" to avoid being overwhelmed with inquires once dashboards go live and millions of people are prompted to search for lost pension pots at the same time.

Commenting on the findings, LCP senior consultant, Ella Holloway, said: “It was surprising to see that so many schemes were yet to come up with a project plan for dashboards.

"Whilst momentum had stalled while the government re-set its timetable, it is now ‘full steam ahead’.

"Schemes should now know the date by which the government expects them to connect to the dashboard’s ecosystem, and the backstop deadline of October 2026 will be upon us before we know it.

"There is no doubt that the secret to making dashboards as painless as possible is planning.”

Adding to this, LCP senior consultant, Marcus Renouf-Allen, said: “Thousands of schemes will need to connect to the dashboard’s ecosystem, and a decision on how to do this needs to be made sooner rather than later.

"For smaller schemes in particular, it is likely that they will want to use the services of a specialist ISP, and there could be a rush to sign up to ISPs as deadlines approach.”

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