Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 29
44th Report - Governance and decision-making on major projects
Published 10 Sep 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Governance and decision-making on major projects All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We asked NISTA how it will ensure it has sufficient independence to fulfil its function to develop, deliver and challenge the 10-year infrastructure strategy, as part of the Treasury. NISTA told us that moving the NIC’s independent strategic advisory role inside government is more powerful because now the advice will be aligned with government’s intentions and will directly contribute to decision-making.54 We asked what options and actions were open to NISTA if NISTA concluded it did not have sufficient independence to fulfil its role. NISTA told us it has retained the expert advisory council from the NIC, with previous Commissioners transferring to NISTA. NISTA told us how the advisory council will provide advice directly to the CEO of NISTA and the Chief Secretary to ensure there is a strong voice from industry experts.55
From: Public Accounts Committee, 44th Report - Governance and decision-making on major projects (HC 642), 10 September 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-fourth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 10 November 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-Fourth report from Session 2024-26
Published 19 January 2026.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" in each of the responses set out, with some marked as implemented and others given target dates.
- On the Committee's request for a 12-month update on mega-project governance, the government agrees, with a target implementation date of September 2026; the Treasury "will write to the Committee".
- On the £10 billion mega-project threshold and on alignment with Mission and place-based governance, the government agrees and records both recommendations as implemented, stating the Treasury "has written to the Committee".
- On assurance, NISTA "will be reviewing and consulting on the assurance framework holistically"; the Treasury will tie higher Delegated Authority Limits to departments evidencing compliance with standards.
- On reporting, the government agrees; NISTA "will consider how" existing reporting can be integrated with reporting against the Strategy, and the infrastructure pipeline "will be updated at least every six months".