The deficit in the pension schemes in the UK are wholly down to the government who will not allow the schemes to be overfunded during the good times (if they do there taxed ) which in turn will always change to a large deficits in the bad times.
If a company fails its not automatic that the scheme will be covered by government if it has sufficient funding (read the small print),however anyone who thinks another 4 years of this lot will improve their pensions or saving pots needs to have their heads examined.