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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Governance and decision-making on major projects

Status: Closed Opened: 15 Jan 2025 Closed: 15 Dec 2025 21 recommendations 9 conclusions 1 report

The head of the National Audit Office (NAO), Comptroller and Auditor General, Gareth Davies, argued in 2024 that improving productivity in government could release tens of billions of pounds worth of public money for other priorities. He pointed to past NAO work on High Speed 2 (HS2) and the New Hospital Programme as suggestive of …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
44th Report - Governance and decision-making on major proje… HC 642 10 Sep 2025 30 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
7 Conclusion 44th Report - Governance and decision-m… Deferred

Mega-projects receive overall funding approval, with annual budgets subject to departmental reprofiling.

We asked the Treasury about when major and mega projects are given the approval to proceed and who makes these announcements. The role the Treasury plays in decisions about whether and how to proceed with a mega- project, its purpose and how to fund it is particularly important. At the …

Government response. The government refers to the OVFM study published in June 2025, setting out a new bespoke approach to funding and governance for mega projects, and states the Treasury will provide an update on its effectiveness.
HM Treasury
8 Conclusion 44th Report - Governance and decision-m… Deferred

Treasury proposes extended feasibility and staged approvals for mega-projects to enhance delivery reliability.

The Treasury told us that, following from the OVFM’s report, for mega- projects it proposes to fund a feasibility stage which will be necessarily long enough to clarify objectives and go through the various business case processes, before setting out publicly what the project intends to do. It explained this …

Government response. The government refers to the OVFM study published in June 2025, setting out a new bespoke approach to funding and governance for mega projects, and states the Treasury will provide an update on its effectiveness.
HM Treasury
10 Conclusion 44th Report - Governance and decision-m… Deferred

Feasibility stage aims to prevent early announcements and clarify mega-project governance frameworks.

We asked how government will prevent projects being announced too early, noting that politicians are a factor. The OVFM told us that this feasibility stage will try to address this by setting out how governance is going to work, with publication of the strategy and delivery plan for a mega-project …

Government response. The Treasury will write to the Committee with an update on the effectiveness of the new bespoke approach to funding and governance as set out in the Office for Value for Money (OVFM) study.
HM Treasury
11 Conclusion 44th Report - Governance and decision-m… Deferred

Treasury assumes greater supervisory role for mega-projects with NISTA panel advising approval.

We asked the Treasury to outline what its new supervisory role is going to be for mega-projects. The Treasury explained that it will have a greater role in the governance of mega-projects by requesting a seat at the board and, in its role as financial shareholder, will have far greater …

Government response. The Treasury will write to the Committee with an update on the effectiveness of the new bespoke approach to funding and governance as set out in the Office for Value for Money (OVFM) study.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
26 Jun 2025 David Goldstone · HM Treasury, David Lunn · Department of Business and Trade, James Bowler CB · HM Treasury, Jon Loveday · NISTA, Nick Donlevy · HM Treasury View ↗

Correspondence

1 letter
DateDirectionTitle
14 Jul 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the HM Treasury relating to the oral evi…