Deficits

A union and pension consultancy firm has criticised a "flawed" study by a taxpayer group showing a £54bn shortfall in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The combined pension deficit of UK companies pushed past £500bn last month as asset values fell slightly and liabilities remained stable, according to Xafinity.

Scheme deficits are higher than a year ago despite £20bn being ploughed into pension funds by sponsoring employers, Mercer data shows.

ITV has seen it pensions deficit grow to £390m as falling corporate bond yields and a £65m premium on a longevity swap carried out last year pushed up the shortfall.

QinetiQ has agreed a funding plan with trustees to tackle its £75m pension deficit after a High Court ruling cleared the way for it to switch to Consumer Prices Index-linking.

BT's has agreed to make a £2bn pension scheme contribution this month to help plug its £4.1bn deficit.

The Pensions Regulator is to investigate Trinity Mirror after the publisher slashed payments to its scheme by £70m in a deal to pay off debts.

Balfour Beatty has slashed its pension deficit from £354m to £188m over the last year through a mixture of employer contributions, de-risking and changing actuarial assumptions.

British Polythene Industries has agreed to top up the contributions to its pensions scheme from an asset-backed funding partnership after its latest triennial valuation.

Communisis has set up an asset-backed contribution arrangement with its pension scheme after a raft of measures to cut its deficit were cancelled out by market movements.