Recommendation 22

The IPA provides a range of assurance and support services to major programmes, with one of its key activities being gateway reviews of programmes at key decision points, such as each approval stage of the Business Case. Major programmes typically join the GMPP as they approach the strategic outline business case stage and leave the GMPP when they have delivered their benefits and are considered complete.43 In the past, this Committee has raised concerns that the IPA is not sufficiently independent of government to confidently challenge it. The IPA arose from the merger of the Major Projects Authority, which provided independent assurance, and Infrastructure UK, which promoted the development of infrastructure, and we stated that the conflict between these roles risked compromising its effectiveness. At the time, the IPA argued that the merger of the two bodies would have benefits such as bringing new expertise and increasing the level of support and intervention it could provide to projects.44