Plans to launch a collective municipal bonds agency could obviate chancellor George Osborne's need to mount ‘fishing expeditions' to attract Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funding for infrastructure, council chiefs have been told.

Cllr Edward Lord, chair of Local Partnerships, told a meeting of the LGA executive on 12 January that local authority bonds – floated as an alternative to controversial private-finance initiatives (PFIs) and borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board – could contribute significantly to the £20bn investment sought by the Treasury through the National Infrastructure Plan.