Recommendation 6

It is not clear how NISTA and the Treasury will be held to account for delivery of their infrastructure strategy and pipeline. It is now critical that NISTA and the Treasury deliver on the commitments they have set out. NISTA believes that the role of setting infrastructure strategy is better situated inside government because the advice it received from the independent National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) was not always aligned with government policy. NISTA told us that it is retaining the NIC’s advisory council to ensure there is a strong voice from industry experts to influence government strategy. However, there is a risk that bringing the NIC’s strategic role into government could leave an absence of independent scrutiny over the effectiveness of the Treasury and NISTA’s delivery of the infrastructure strategy. recommendation In its Treasury Minute Response, the Treasury and NISTA should set out how they intend to report annually on progress against delivery of its strategy, as well as what arrangements it will make for this to be independently assured. 6 1 Changes to strategic governance of projects Introduction