Pensioners face another shambles as dashboards not ready 21-years after being announced

The alterations will be set out in upcoming regulations to help ensure there is more flexibility for the PDP.

Trott said: “Rather than setting out the entire staging timeline in legislation, we will instead set this out in guidance which we will collaborate on with industry this year.”

The 38-year-old announced a connection deadline of October 31, 2026 for schemes to connect to the digital architecture.

The move is "in recognition that the requirement to connect to the digital architecture should remain mandatory".

Trott added: “The Government remains as committed as ever to making pensions dashboards a reality and we are ambitious about their delivery.

“I am confident that this re-appraised approach will enable us to make significant progress on delivering dashboards safely and securely, enabling consumers to take advantage of their benefits to plan for retirement.”

Commenting on the latest announcement, Professional Pensions editor Jonathan Stapleton said: “It is clear we now need to crack on and at pace.

“It has now been 21 years since ORPs were first mooted and some nine years since the project's latest incarnation started to be discussed more seriously in 2014, when the Financial Conduct Authority recommended the development of a pensions dashboard.

“The launch of auto-enrolment in 2012, the subsequent growth of people saving into a workplace scheme has led to a surge in the number of small pension pots and the number of people with multiple pension pots.

“When you add freedom and choice into the mix, people increasingly need to engage with their pension and know exactly what they have and where.

“Never has it been more urgent for consumers to be able to view all their pension savings - including the state pension - in one place.”

He added: “Some calculate that it took roughly 800 years to build ancient Rome to its peak.

“Let's hope it doesn't take that long to get pensions dashboards off the ground.”