Councils will not be forced to invest their pension funds into infrastructure schemes, the Government has confirmed.

Following the launch of a petition calling for a parliamentary debate into its plans, the Government said it would only intervene if there was clear evidence a pension fund authority was not acting 'reasonably and lawfully'.

'The Government has no intention of setting targets for infrastructure investment or removing the right of individual pension fund authorities to make their own decisions about strategic asset allocation,' a statement said.

'However, the pooling scheme assets announced at the July 2015 Budget will improve their capacity to invest in infrastructure, as well as achieving significant cost savings, while maintaining returns.'

The petition has been organised by Unison who have accused the Government of 'gambling away' council workers' pensions. The petition - which requires 100,000 signatures to be considered for debate in Parliament - has currently been signed by over 32,000 people.