Pensions ‘dashboard’ must be rescued, warns Royal London

THE boss of the UK’S largest pensions company has urged the Government not to ditch its plans for an online dashboard that would let people see all of their retirement savings in one place.

Phil Loney, Royal London chief executive, said that the project, first proposed two years ago by George Osborne, must not be dropped amid reports that Work and Pensions Secretary Esther Mcvey wants to bin it.

“There are a lot of rumours that just because of workload and worries about universal credit and other priorities, the Department for Work and Pensions may no longer be looking to progress it,” he said.

“We’re not looking for the Government to pay for it, but we need a commitment that they’ll put the state pension details into the dashboard and we need them to compel all pension providers to take part. It’s a key ingredient for this new pensions world to be successful.”

The online tracker, which is being funded by the industry, was due to have been rolled out early next year. A consultation on the project was due in March but is still ongoing.

Market experts have raised concerns that fraudsters will try to fill the void if the Government abandons the scheme, with the Association of British Insurers warning that dumping it would be a “huge let-down” for millions.

Mr Loney said the project “has to be a high priority” for the Government because under new rules, people are more responsible for their nest egg than before and can end up holding various pension pots.

His comments came as Royal London reported profits had jumped 9pc to £358m for the six months to June 30, despite life and pensions sales falling by around £1m.

However, Mr Loney warned that “sluggish economic growth” and the end of the Government’s launch of the automatic enrolment programme had provided a “challenging backdrop” for pension and investment firms.

“Real incomes aren’t rising very much, which is tough for consumption but also for savings,” he said.

“That’s going to go on for a while and we’ve just got to hope that we start to see higher productivity and real earnings increases.

“I expect Royal London to keep growing, but at a slower pace than we have done.”