Public pension funds for London and Lancashire have set up a new £1.5bn infrastructure fund  - one of the first fruits of George Osborne's drive to boost public funds' investment in the sector, 18 months on from the launch of his project.

The new global infrastructure fund from the Local Pensions Partnership means it is the first of the eight pension "pools" - the new consolidated investment management operations being set up by the UK's £250bn Local Government Pension Scheme - to establish a common infrastructure investment fund.