Council leaders, academics and senior consultants have warned town hall pension funds face a 'death spiral' unless they are reformed and made more efficient.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of Hammersmith and Fulham LBC, and Cllr Peter Jones, leader of East Sussex CC, are among the signatories to a letter to the Financial Times warning that several of the 101 funds in the £150bn Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) 'are so under-funded that they are beyond the point of no return'.