Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
NISTA and public institutions created to boost contract management and project delivery skills.
Conclusion
The Treasury told us that the formation of NISTA, which brought together the strategy of the National Infrastructure Commission and the delivery of the IPA, brings increased focus on contract management.47 In addition, it told us that public financial institutions, such as the National Wealth Fund, will be responsible for large financial transaction projects on the basis that they have the skills to “do them properly”.48 Risk allocation
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and sets an October 2026 target, committing to expand existing skills initiatives like Skills England to ensure the public sector builds, attracts, and retains the necessary private finance skillset and workforce for infrastructure investment.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2026 4.2 The government recognises that a step-change in infrastructure investment will require specialist private finance capacity and capability, as well as other specialist workforce skills. Government has engaged widely with industry during the development of the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, and will continue to work in partnership with the private sector and a wide range of stakeholders to unlock capital and build confidence in the UK. 4.3 The government is already building capability across government by providing training for some aspects of private finance. NISTA holds network events for private finance experts across central and local government to facilitate networking, encourage the sharing of expertise, and improve learning. NISTA also provides training for PFI contract managers on several topics including contract expiry and will be publishing PFI contract and performance management guidance later in 2025 to help authorities improve the management and performance of their contracts. Finally, the Treasury, NISTA and UK Government Investments lead on the government's corporate and project finance professions which support learning and development, postmortem analysis and professional skills. 4.4 In the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, the government committed to understand the UK’s infrastructure skills requirements – to better identify where it needs to provide support. Skills England will collate a national picture of skills gaps by working closely with mayoral strategic authorities, while bodies such as the Office for Clean Energy Jobs will build a clear picture in individual sectors. The Infrastructure Pipeline data will also provide insight on the scale and range of construction skills required, which will support Skills England in understanding and addressing critical skills gaps. The government will expand the scope of these existing initiatives to capture how the public sector can build, attract and retain the necessary private finance skillset and workforce to deliver greater infrastructure investment.