The government has proposed creating a defined benefit "superfund" to provide small DB schemes with scale.
However, it has said such a superfund should probably be a voluntary initiative, and should not be run directly by the government.
The plan was revealed in a green paper on the future of DB schemes launched today by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Overall, the long-awaited green paper was positive about the state of the UK's DB pension schemes, downplaying negative headlines of recent months.
The paper stated: "Whilst recognising that the system may not be operating optimally in all areas, our main conclusion is that there is not a significant structural problem with the regulatory and legislative framework."
Nevertheless, the 106-page document set-out exhaustive solutions to what it considered the four main problem areas: funding and investment; scheme affordability; member protection; and consolidation.
On the issue of consolidation, the government proposed a number of different structures for such a fund.
While the paper expressed support for the idea in theory, it was hostile to the idea that such a DB superfund of superfunds be created and run by the government.
However, it considered "whether it would be appropriate for government to provide some structures or incentives to encourage the pensions industry to innovate and to provide new consolidation vehicles".
On scheme affordability, the paper also proposed methods to allow "stressed" DB schemes to ease their burdens, including by switching their annual pension increases from the retail price index to the consumer price index.
The discussion of member protection centred around giving The Pensions Regulator more powers, including the power to impose much more punative fines on sponsoring companies that fail to meet their obligations.
The fourth major area of potential reform, funding and investment, centred on three potential reforms: changes to the method of calculating liabilities; better communicating the funding position to members; and potential changes to asset allocation of DB schemes.
Pensions minister Richard Harrington, said: "People need to have confidence in their pension and it is vital that they feel that they are secure.
"With recent high profile cases highlighting the risks inherent in defined benefit pensions, we want to ensure that these important pension schemes remain sustainable for the future and that the right protections are in place for members."
He said DWP would be working closely with the pensions industry, employers and scheme members "to see what more can be done to increase confidence in defined benefit pensions".
james.fernyhough@ft.com
