A plan to provide retirement savers with a facility to see all their pension plans in one place is believed to be under threat, according to a report.
The online pensions dashboard was proposed in 2016 by former Chancellor George Osborne and received widespread support.
It has the backing of Osborne’s successor, Philip Hammond, and Prime Minister Theresa May, although it requires legislative backing to compel pension providers to sign up.
However, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey is believed to be considering scrapping the scheme after remaining tight-lipped following the conclusion of an official consultation in March 2018.
To add further fuel to the flames, Pensions Minister Guy Opperman refused to confirm whether the government will press ahead with the project when quizzed by MPs this week.
Helen Morrissey, pension specialist at Royal London, said:
“Even the suggestion the work and pensions secretary [Ms McVey] could pull the plug on the pension dashboard project is extremely disappointing.
“The dashboard has the ability to boost engagement with retirement planning and to abandon the project now risks letting down millions of savers.”
Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, added:
“More needs to be done to encourage the self-employed to save for the future.
“It’s vital Esther McVey delivers on the promise of a pensions dashboard so savers can track their investments effectively.”
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