It appears that very little escapes the eagle eyes of Frank Field MP, chair of the work and pensions committee, where corporate failure arises involving a defined benefits scheme. Currently he is asking questions about the circumstances surrounding the pre-packaged administration of Johnston Press (owner of the i and the Yorkshire Post) in November 2018, with debts of around £200m.

The pre-pack enabled a new business to rise from the ashes under new ownership unencumbered by those liabilities or any pensions deficit; it also triggered a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period for the group’s defined benefits pension scheme, at the end of which the Pension Protection Fund is likely to take on around £109m of pensions liabilities.