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44th Report - Governance and decision-making on major projects

Public Accounts Committee HC 642 Published 10 September 2025
Report Status
Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations
30 items (21 recs)
Government Response
AI assessment · 30 of 30 classified
Accepted 26
Deferred 4
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Recommendations

21 results
4 Accepted

Outline Treasury and NISTA plans to improve governance and assurance for all major government projects.

Recommendation
NISTA still has work to do to ensure that it gains assurance about progress with all major projects and that they are governed and assured effectively. The government has been focused on mega- projects and the infrastructure strategy and pipeline … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating NISTA is refining data processes and will review the assurance framework. Crucially, the Treasury commits to strengthening departmental capability by linking higher Delegated Authority Limits to compliance with standards and requiring project boards to include accredited professionals and senior specialists.
HM Treasury
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6 Accepted

Require Treasury and NISTA to detail annual reporting on strategy delivery and independent assurance.

Recommendation
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 … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating it has already committed to reporting on progress and updating the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy every two years. NISTA already reports annually on the Government Major Projects Portfolio, and the infrastructure pipeline, published in July 2025, will be updated every six months. NISTA will consider how to integrate this reporting.
HM Treasury
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12 Accepted

Mega-projects possess unique characteristics making them inherently more challenging to deliver successfully.

Recommendation
Mega-projects display several characteristics which, when taken together, make them more difficult to deliver than major projects. They often have the potential to be transformational to the economy or society and are scentral to the government’s efforts to achieve its … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury will write to the Committee by September 2026 with an update on the effectiveness of the revised approach to governance of mega-projects, following the publication of the OVFM study in June 2025.
HM Treasury
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13 Accepted

Government defines mega-projects by specific criteria, identifying three current examples and one potential.

Recommendation
We asked how government will be defining mega-projects. The OVFM told us that its selection criteria is focused on strategic importance, complexity and size, using £10 billion whole-life cost as a threshold. The OVFM’s selection criteria also excludes all scalable … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to write to the Committee setting out the rationale for the £10 billion cost criterion for mega projects, and under what circumstances a project’s complexity and importance could justify it being a mega-project even where the £10 billion cost threshold is not met, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
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14 Accepted

Current mega-project definition excludes numerous complex and strategic government initiatives and programmes.

Recommendation
The OVFM and Treasury’s selection criteria for mega-projects excludes a number of complex projects, such as the Lower Thames Crossing and the Oxford-Cambridge arc.27 The exclusion of repeatable and scalable projects also means that the New Hospitals Programme is not … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury has written to the Committee setting out the rationale for the £10 billion cost criterion for mega projects.
HM Treasury
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15 Accepted

Complex projects with cross-cutting impacts require well-designed governance to ensure effective decision-making.

Recommendation
The ultimate responsibility for a large and complex project currently tends to sit within one department despite the fact these projects can affect multiple sectors of society and the economy. Delivering these projects can therefore require multiple departments, different tiers … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to write to the Committee with explanations and worked examples for how major and mega project governance will align with Mission and place-based governance in the delivery of the infrastructure strategy, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
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16 Accepted

Treasury aligns infrastructure governance with missions, developing bespoke arrangements for mega-projects.

Recommendation
We asked the Treasury how it will ensure that the governance of the infrastructure strategy and project pipeline will align with the governance of the five missions. It told us that the infrastructure strategy sets out how each project will … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury wrote to the Committee alongside the report to explain how major and mega project governance will align with Mission and place-based governance in the delivery of the infrastructure strategy.
HM Treasury
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17 Accepted

Mission boards facilitate cross-departmental coordination for related projects to ensure value for money.

Recommendation
We asked the Treasury how it will ensure that projects, which are related to each other or are in the same area but sit within different departments, do complement each other and provide value for money. It told us that … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to write to the Committee with explanations and worked examples for how major and mega project governance will align with Mission and place-based governance in the delivery of the infrastructure strategy, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
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18 Accepted

Green Book changes aim to improve place-based interventions by aggregating benefits from multiple projects.

Recommendation
We asked about how changes to the Green Book will ensure that projects are effective place-based interventions. The Treasury outlined that the key objective of the place-based business case is to bring together all the different projects that will make … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to write to the Committee with explanations and worked examples for how major and mega project governance will align with Mission and place-based governance in the delivery of the infrastructure strategy, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
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19 Accepted

Require NISTA to develop comprehensive, integrated assurance plans for all major government projects.

Recommendation
On the 31 March 2024, the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) included 227 projects at a combined whole-life cost of £834 billion. NISTA needs to gain assurance about progress with major projects as this helps it to challenge projects to … Read more
Government Response Summary
NISTA will review and consult on the assurance framework holistically, and the Treasury will strengthen departmental skills by tying higher Delegated Authority Limits to standards compliance, requiring accredited project professionals and senior specialists on project boards, and ensuring SROs have the right experience and support.
HM Treasury
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20 Accepted

New mega-project governance involves top-level political decisions informed by official panels.

Recommendation
We asked NISTA how the gateway and business case process will be strengthened to give better assurance on project affordability and value for money. NISTA told us there is now a distinction between mega projects and major projects with new … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury will strengthen departmental skills by tying higher Delegated Authority Limits to upholding standards, requiring accredited project professionals and senior specialists on project boards, and ensuring SROs have the right experience and support.
HM Treasury
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21 Accepted

NISTA prioritises and reallocates resources across major projects to improve overall delivery system efficiency.

Recommendation
We noted that the concept of mega projects could take away from the proper supervision of major projects and asked how NISTA will have the bandwidth to be able to keep across all these major projects. NISTA told us that … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to set out what it and NISTA will be doing to improve governance and assurance of all major projects in the future, particularly at a Departmental level, and will review and consult on the assurance framework holistically.
HM Treasury
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22 Accepted

NISTA improves governance culture by strengthening reporting, assurance, and project delivery training.

Recommendation
We noted the importance of governance culture and asked how NISTA will address recurring themes around poor governance and decision- making. NISTA highlighted the importance of reporting and assurance to make the right decisions at the right time. NISTA told … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury will strengthen departmental skills by tying higher Delegated Authority Limits to upholding standards, requiring accredited project professionals and senior specialists on project boards, and ensuring SROs have the right experience and support.
HM Treasury
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23 Accepted

NISTA integrates infrastructure strategy and delivery within the Treasury with a broad remit.

Recommendation
NISTA is combining strategy and delivery of infrastructure and will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the 10-year infrastructure strategy, supported by a project pipeline, with industry, regulators and departments.44 NISTA told us that merging the Infrastructure and Projects … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury will strengthen departmental skills by tying higher Delegated Authority Limits to upholding standards, requiring accredited project professionals and senior specialists on project boards, and ensuring SROs have the right experience and support.
HM Treasury
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24 Accepted

NISTA and Treasury express confidence in new body's substantial resources and capacity.

Recommendation
We asked NISTA how it was going to ensure it has the necessary resources and capacity to deliver its scope. NISTA told us it is confident it can resource the six objectives through its staff of over 200, and also … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Treasury will strengthen departmental skills by tying higher Delegated Authority Limits to upholding standards, requiring accredited project professionals and senior specialists on project boards, and ensuring SROs have the right experience and support.
HM Treasury
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25 Accepted

NISTA's remit encompasses service transformation, supporting eligible projects with experienced teams.

Recommendation
NISTA’s remit covers service transformation and so we asked NISTA about its role with transformation projects. NISTA told us it has an experienced team in transformation and digital projects and said that if a project meets the requirements to be … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and plans to outline milestones for NISTA's strategic objectives by Summer 2026, including resource allocation and focus on priority areas like digital and transformation projects.
HM Treasury
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26 Accepted

NISTA continues project performance data collection, requiring improved standardisation and early warning indicators.

Recommendation
We asked how the IPA’s previous data collection could continue to be used across projects to aid costing and identify effective early warning indicators for project delivery. NISTA told us its intention is to continue to publish updates and collect … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states NISTA has made progress connecting individual systems and bringing performance data together, with plans to produce project-level insights to better target assurance and intervention.
HM Treasury
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27 Accepted

The 10-year infrastructure strategy aims to provide long-term stability and investor certainty.

Recommendation
The infrastructure strategy sets out government’s intention to provide long-term stability needed to attract investment, boost supply chains and jobs, and take a joined-up view to improve planning and delivery across infrastructure.50 We noted that the infrastructure strategy and pipeline … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that NISTA should outline milestones for achieving its strategic objectives, including how it will allocate its resources, with a target implementation date of Summer 2026.
HM Treasury
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28 Accepted

The 10-year strategy enhances project visibility and accountability; independent oversight is recommended.

Recommendation
NISTA told us that the aim of the strategy is to improve project delivery by bringing government thinking into what it is going to do and fund over a 10-year period. NISTA said previous strategies were over a shorter five-year … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that NISTA should outline milestones for achieving its strategic objectives, including how it will allocate its resources, with a target implementation date of Summer 2026.
HM Treasury
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29 Accepted

NISTA's independence within the Treasury is reinforced by direct alignment and an expert advisory council.

Recommendation
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 … Read more
Government Response Summary
NISTA will outline milestones for achieving its strategic objectives, including resource allocation to deliver the objectives, ensuring a focus on priority areas such as digital and transformation projects by Summer 2026.
HM Treasury
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30 Accepted

Publication of business cases and strategy updates significantly enhances project transparency and accountability.

Recommendation
We noted that we had previously heard that projects on the GMPP would have their summary business cases published following final approval and evaluations.56 We asked what difference the publications of these could make to project governance. The Treasury told … Read more
Government Response Summary
NISTA will outline milestones for achieving its strategic objectives, including resource allocation to deliver the objectives, ensuring a focus on priority areas such as digital and transformation projects by Summer 2026.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (5)

Observations and findings
2 Conclusion Accepted
There are many strategically important projects that will not fall within the OVFM and Treasury’s definition of a mega project. The Treasury and the OVFM’s criteria for what constitutes a mega-project are focused on strategic importance, complexity and cost, with the latter needing to exceed £10 billion to be considered …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that the Treasury has already written to the committee, implementing the request to set out the rationale for the £10 billion cost criterion and other circumstances for mega projects.
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3 Conclusion Accepted
We are not yet convinced there is a coherent approach to making decisions on major projects as part of wider plans for local areas and national missions. The ultimate responsibility for a large and complex project currently sits within one department despite the fact these projects can affect multiple sectors …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that the Treasury has already written to the committee, implementing the request for explanations and worked examples on how major and mega project governance will align with Mission and place-based governance.
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5 Conclusion Accepted
NISTA has a broad and stretching range of responsibilities, which will require it to juggle many competing demands on its resources. NISTA is responsible for infrastructure strategy, major project assurance, project delivery capability and has six objectives covering these broad areas. To fulfil these, NISTA has approximately 200 members of …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating NISTA is already making progress in connecting data sources, producing insights, and exploring ways to share performance data. NISTA is also working to implement Project Data Standards, a common reporting platform, and upskilling colleagues in data and AI.
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1 Conclusion Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from HM Treasury (the Treasury), the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and the Office for Value for Money (OVFM) on governance and decision-making on major projects.1
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating new bespoke budgeting and governance arrangements for mega projects were set out in June 2025 and will be implemented. The Treasury commits to writing to the Committee with an update on its effectiveness.
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9 Conclusion Accepted
We noted the importance of transparency and asked what role this will play in the new process. The Treasury told us a strategy and delivery plan for a mega-project will be published, stating what the aim of the mega-project is and how this will be delivered.16 These Strategy and 10 …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and has implemented it.
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