CONSULTATIONS AND DRAFT LEGISLATION

Pensions Dashboards - new connection deadline

(8 June 2023)

Draft regulations have been laid before Parliament following the Pensions Minister’s Written Statement confirming a new dashboards connection deadline of 31 October 2026 for all in-scope schemes (broadly schemes with at least 100 non-pensioner members).

The draft regulations amend the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 so as to:

• remove references to ‘staging date’ and replace with a single ‘connection deadline’ of 31 October 2026;
• insert a requirement for trustees and managers to have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State;
• remove the option of ‘early connection’;
• amend the parameters for ‘deferred connection’. Schemes may, within 12 months of the amending regulations coming into force, apply to defer the connection deadline by up to 12 months. They must submit evidence that, before the amending regulations came into force, they had embarked on a programme to transfer to a new administrator or had entered into a contract containing an obligation to retender the administration of the scheme;
• change the ‘reference date’ (for identifying schemes in-scope) to the scheme year end date falling between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024;
• adjust the provisions for new (or growing) schemes falling into scope