The PPF rescued these pension scheme members last December

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) says the UK's 7,783 schemes, mainly in the private sector, had a collective surplus of �44bn.

That was up from the �27bn surplus in August - and much better than the �31bn deficit of September last year.

The improvement reflects higher contributions and investment returns.

The PPF was set up in 2005 to provide a safety net for pension scheme members if their employer went bust, leaving their fund with a deficit.

As part of its role in monitoring the health of schemes, which supply it with annual returns, the PPF now publishes a monthly snapshot of their financial health.

The PPF calculates how much money the schemes would need to pay an insurance company to take on full responsibility for paying out the pensions at the safety net level set by the Fund.

In September, the schemes in surplus were in the black to the tune of �94bn - up from �50bn a year ago.