Ten year strategy and merged NIC and IPA will “get a grip” on infrastructure delays

The government is to combine the strategic functions of National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) with the delivery functions of the Infrastructure Projects Authority under a new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA).

Chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said the new body, due to be operational by spring 2025, will “get a grip on the delays to infrastructure delivery that have plagued our global reputation with investors. It will restore the confidence of businesses to invest and help break the cycle of low growth.” It will have “a strong mandate” and direct ministerial oversight from the centre of government and in every department across Whitehall.

Jones went on to announce that the government will, next spring, publish a ten year national infrastructure strategy, outlining its objectives, priorities and vision for infrastructure.

This all follows moves including a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is due to be introduced in this Parliamentary session, to streamline the consenting process for major infrastructure projects and enable relevant, new national policy statements to come forward, giving increased certainty to developers and communities.

Together, Jones said, the actions would unlock private finance to be invested alongside the new National Wealth Fund. He was speaking just days ahead of the government’s International Investment Summit taking place today (14 October).

The Treasury acknowledged investor confidence has been shaken “by a cycle of underinvestment and instability that has plagued the UK’s infrastructure’s systems, with statistics showing that the UK has historically ranked lowest among the G7 for investment, alongside the lowest public capital stock in the G7, 15% below its average”.

Jones said: “What investors need most from government is trust. And sadly, that trust has been broken.” But change is here: “It will be the right type of change. It will be long term, it will be joined up and it will be strategic; not directionless chaos in the winds of political change, but the lasting change of a decade of national renewal. To sum it up in three words, we will deliver ‘strategy and delivery’.” 

• The cost of infrastructure projects could be cut by 10-25% with improvements to budgeting, specification, design and delivery, a new report from the NIC has found. It identified four root causes that can contribute to systemic failures of cost management on major infrastructure projects: lack of clear strategic direction, client and sponsorship challenges, inefficient consenting and compliance and a constrained supply chain.

• NIC chair Sir John Armitt is to extend his term to provide stability and expertise during the transition to NISTA and the development of the ten-year infrastructure strategy.