The proportion of people in a workplace pension has fallen below half for the first time in at least 15 years, prompting calls for confidence in schemes to be rebuilt.

The total deficit of private sector final-salary pension schemes has eased back from its previous record high, Pension Protection Fund (PPF) figures showed today.

Negotiations over the Government's controversial public sector pension reforms, which sparked a huge strike last year, have still not been concluded, one of the main unions involved in the dispute said today.

BP brought cheer to Britain's pension funds yesterday as the oil giant hiked its quarterly dividend by 14 per cent.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies was busy last week. First, the IFS calculated that the Government's public-sector pension reforms will not save the Exchequer any money.

Millions of private-sector workers saving for their retirement are at the mercy of a "hugely unfair annuity system" which lops up to £1bn off their combined pension incomes every year, according to leading pensions experts.

Local authorities have been urged to scrap investments in tobacco firms after an investigation by The Independent revealed that their pension funds have an estimated £2bn stake in firms such as Imperial and British American Tobacco.

With a bit of careful planning, pensioners can have the time of their lives, reports Rob Griffin

BMA to hold ballot next month as Government asks members to work longer for less money

Pension liabilities among British businesses swelled to a record £255.2bn in December as the Bank of England waded into the market to buy government bonds, the latest figures from the Pension Protection Fund revealed yesterday.

Britain's biggest union rejected last night the Government's final offer to health service workers in the public sector pensions dispute, raising the prospect of fresh industrial action.

The oil giant Shell came under attack yesterday after announcing it is closing its final-salary pension scheme to new workers.

Government backtracks after claims Communities Secretary tried to impose last-minute conditions