Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Thirty-Second Report - Delivering value from government investment in major projects
Public Accounts Committee
HC 456
Published 15 May 2024
Recommendations
2
Not Addressed
Develop a plan to incentivise departments to conduct high-quality, independent major project evaluations.
Recommendation
Government departments still have few incentives to commission and carry out high-quality evaluations of major projects. High quality evaluation is an important means of providing evidence about what works, transparency about what value a project has produced, and making the …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to develop a plan for incentivising evaluations, but its response discusses supplier and market engagement with SMEs and TechUK, which is irrelevant to the committee's specific request for an evaluation plan.
HM Treasury
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3
Not Addressed
Analyse and issue guidance on governance for effective cross-government major projects.
Recommendation
There are signs of improved cross-government working but government still struggles to establish effective governance and accountability arrangements on the most complex projects where multiple departments are involved. In our February 2024 report on cross-government working in general we concluded …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to analyze governance structures for cross-government working and issue guidance. However, its response focuses on the existing Digital, Data and Technology Playbook for managing digital projects, rather than addressing the broader request for general cross-government working guidance.
HM Treasury
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4
Accepted
Submit analysis of skills shortage risks to government's infrastructure project portfolio.
Recommendation
Government departments and the broader economy lack the necessary skills and capacity to deliver the government’s ambitious portfolio of major infrastructure projects. The UK’s projected spend on infrastructure projects over the next five years is very high—unprecedented, according to the …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees to the recommendation and will provide further detail to the Committee in December, aligning with a target implementation date of December 2025.
HM Treasury
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5
Accepted
Outline plans to incentivise departments to populate IPA benchmarking hub with project data.
Recommendation
The IPA’s plans to improve the quality of government’s cost estimates of major projects have taken too long to implement. We have examined many projects Delivering value from government investment in major projects 7 where early cost estimates have proved …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will provide further detail to the Committee in December, consistent with the target implementation date.
HM Treasury
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6
Not Addressed
Outline plans for embedding cross-government learning in future major projects.
Recommendation
Government departments do not routinely learn lessons from their own projects or those of other departments, so are missing opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency of future projects. Applying learning about what has been successful in major project delivery can …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to outline plans for embedding cross-government learning. However, its response outlines reviews of commercial and digital functional standards, development of a standard taxonomy, and reviews of controls and assurance frameworks, which are not direct plans for cross-government learning.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (17)
1
Conclusion
Not Addressed
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and HM Treasury.1
Government Response Summary
The committee item is a factual statement about taking evidence from the IPA and HM Treasury. The government responds by agreeing to the 'recommendation' and detailing actions related to digital functions, a Technical Design Authority, and strategic supplier relationship management, which is irrelevant to the original statement.
7
Conclusion
Not Addressed
High quality evaluation is an important means of providing evidence about what works and transparency about what value a project has produced. In our May 2022 report on government’s use of evaluation and modelling, we stated: “Without the right incentives, improvements to oversight and culture, and addressing challenges such as …
Government Response Summary
Despite stating agreement, the government's response details its efforts to encourage international collaboration on antimicrobial products and antibiotic innovation, including commissioning an evaluability assessment from July 2025 to early 2026. This does not address the committee's conclusion on the importance of high-quality evaluation for major government projects.
8
Conclusion
Not Addressed
There are too few evaluations of government’s major projects. As we pointed out in our May 2022 report on the use of evaluation and modelling in government, in 2019, only 8% of £432 billion of spend on major projects had robust impact evaluation plans in place, and 64% of spend …
Government Response Summary
Despite stating agreement, the government's response focuses entirely on making public health a statutory objective for water companies, regulating sludge, and tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in wastewater, with a White Paper planned for Autumn 2025. This does not address the committee's conclusion about the lack of evaluations for major government projects.
9
Conclusion
Not Addressed
In our May 2022 report on evaluation, we pointed out that the same barriers to departments doing more evaluations had been in place since 2013. These include a lack of political engagement and a lack of incentives for departments to produce evaluations. HM Treasury told us that it still has …
Government Response Summary
Despite stating agreement, the government's response details actions related to monitoring healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans and animals, including a new data dashboard from UKHSA by Autumn 2025 and novel AMR surveillance pilots in animals until 2029. This does not address the committee's conclusion about barriers to government project evaluations.
10
Conclusion
Although it is often the case that a single government department has ultimate accountability for delivery of a major project, it is often the case that multiple departments as well other stakeholders and organisations will be involved in delivery and in ensuring that value is delivered. Indeed, success depends on …
11
Conclusion
For some projects it may be more effective for an organisation outside of the project delivery team to be accountable for delivering the value from the project. On two of the projects referred to in the C&AG’s report development corporations were set up by 8 Ibid; C&AG’s Report, paras 10–12, …
12
Conclusion
In our February 2024 report on cross-government working we concluded that “effective cross-government working is fundamental to delivering government’s priorities but there is a lot of work to do to make it more than just a ‘nice to have’”. However, the IPA told us that ensuring that stakeholders are involved …
13
Conclusion
The IPA gave us examples where the involvement of stakeholders has been working well. For example, the East-West Rail project’s growth board that brings together local authority and government department and the A303 and Lower Thames Crossing projects have built support from controversial projects. The IPA also told us that …
14
Conclusion
As set out above, in March 2023, the value of the Government Major Projects Portfolio in terms of total whole-life costs was £805 billion. With major projects in the transport and energy sectors and programmes or projects to build new schools, hospitals and prisons, the UK’s projected spend on infrastructure …
15
Conclusion
However, the IPA told us that it is already seeing evidence of current and future skills shortages and stiff competition from other countries with their own major investment programmes for scarce skills. The IPA gave specific examples of skills shortages in trades such welders for building frigates on behalf of …
16
Conclusion
The IPA told us that there remains a lack of project management skills in the civil service and that there are particular shortages in technical and engineering skills. This lack of skills places too much reliance on the supply chain for those skills, which can place government departments in a …
17
Conclusion
We have examined numerous projects over the years where cost estimates have increased significantly over the life of the project. Optimism bias in government is a significant factor in nearly every project we look at. Another, related, factor is a tendency in government to approve projects before they have been …
18
Conclusion
Lack of cost-estimation capability in government means that government is reliant on suppliers to government defining what a project will cost. The IPA told us that cost estimation is an important skill and one that government departments need to be much better at. HM Treasury told us that the challenge …
19
Conclusion
Applying learning about what has been successful in major project delivery can bring great efficiency and reduced costs. The C&AG’s report, and other lessons learned reports like it, as well as those produced by this Committee are useful resources for government to find out what works. The C&AG’s report used …
20
Conclusion
The IPA told us that increased standardisation of design of some projects can be a helpful way to learn and apply what has worked well. The IPA told us that the schools, 18 Qq 70; Committee of Public Accounts, HS2 and Euston, Tenth Report of Session 2023–24, HC 67, 7 …
21
Conclusion
In our February 2024 report on cross-government working we highlighted that a lack of routine data sharing between departments and poor arrangements for sharing best practice and learning. Learning lessons from major projects can, however, be a challenge because of the nature of some projects. It may not be immediately …
22
Conclusion
The IPA told us it could do more to challenge departments to learn from one project to another. The IPA did, however, point to areas where learning is improving in government. For example, the IPA chairs the Government Construction Board, where lessons about what works well in project delivery are …