From April 2015, each section of the £180bn Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) will be required to establish a Local Pensions Board (LPB). The LPB will exist to ‘assist' the administering authority in all of its LGPS functions, including investment.

What form this ‘assistance' will take, and whether it is actually required, are both moot points. LPB's primary function will be to scrutinise existing pensions committees. The challenge will be to find the best ways to make the LPBs a useful resource, rather than the vestigial role that many fear.