Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Deferred
Treasury proposes extended feasibility and staged approvals for mega-projects to enhance delivery reliability.
Conclusion
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 stage would be more substantial than it is currently, and we noted this could take months or even years.13 It also told us that there will be a staged approvals process as recommended by the OVFM, where funding will only be provided from the Treasury to get to the next stage of approval once the mega-projects decision panel is satisfied that the project is able to proceed.14 The Treasury told us that a “go slow to go fast” approach would encourage both faster and more reliable delivery of projects.15
Government Response Summary
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.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
1.2 The Office for Value for Money (OVFM) published its study on the governance and budgeting arrangements for mega projects in June 2025. This set out a new bespoke approach to funding and governance that will be implemented for current and future mega projects. The Treasury will write to the Committee with an update on the effectiveness of this revised approach.