Vital scrutiny of Government’s performance regarding public spending on major projects could be weakened by the creation of the Infrastructure & Projects Authority earlier this year, according to a Parliamentary watchdog.

 

The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee says that the new Authority risks “becoming too much of a champion” for Government projects and added that the requirements of good project delivery are “not understood well enough by policy makers and decision makers outside the project management profession”.

 

This morning the Infrastructure & Projects Authority and HM Treasury launched a new National Infrastructure Delivery Plan, setting out Government’s infrastructure priorities for the next five years.

 

Committee chair Meg Hillier said: “There is clearly a role within Government for an independent organisation that challenges departments about their plans and projects. One of our concerns is that this important function is not weakened or undermined following the creation of the Infrastructure & Projects Authority.”

 

According to the Public Accounts Committee the Infrastructure & Projects Authority had previously said that High Speed 2 was among three major programmes of most concern that will require close and careful monitoring.

 

The Authority came into being after a merger of the Major Projects Authority and Infrastructure UK. The MPA was set up in March 2011 to provide independent assurance on projects within Government’s major projects portfolio. But the Committee said that after five years “we question just how effective the previous Major Projects Authority has been in bringing meaningful influence to bear on Government performance”.

 

Among the recommendations made by the Committee last week are that the new Infrastructure & Projects Authority “maintains its focus on project assurance and support”.

 

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The Government is committed to improving the way major projects are delivered. That is why we set up the Infrastructure & Projects Authority, to help build vital infrastructure, to improve public services and to save taxpayers money. 

 

“The IPA will be a single centre of expertise for project development, financing, assurance and support in Government. The Authority will bring together the Cabinet Office and Treasury for the more efficient and effective deployment of expert resource to the highest priority areas. We value the Committee’s recommendations and will consider how the IPA can best take these forward.”

 

This morning’s launch of the new National Infrastructure Delivery Plan incorporates the latest version of the National Infrastructure Pipeline, which sets out £425Bn worth of planned investment in infrastructure, including £134Bn for transport. Around £185Bn of the infrastructure total is budgeted for beyond 2020/21, of which £46Bn is for transport.

 

The Plan reaffirms announcements on infrastructure made by the Chancellor in last week’s Budget. These include an innovation strategy for Highways England that will see trials of driverless cars take place on the strategic road network by next year, trials of truck platooning and creation of a £15M ‘connected corridor’ between London and Dover enabling vehicles to communicate wirelessly with infrastructure.

 

Also contained in the Plan are commitments to accelerate improvements to the M62 and improve highway capacity on the M1 from Rotherham to Wakefield. Highways England will receive £75M to further develop the case for a trans-Pennine road tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester and Government will provide £151M to fund new river crossings at Lowestoft and Ipswich.

 

On the railways £60M will be allocated to develop options for High Speed 3 between Leeds and Manchester, a further £4M will be used to develop High Speed 2 growth strategies around Manchester and Leeds stations and £80M is to be provided for Crossrail 2 in London.

 

Infrastructure & Projects Authority chief executive Tony Meggs said: “This plan sets out details of infrastructure investment by Government and the private sector across all sectors and regions. It describes not only what we are going to build, but also how we will prioritise investment and work with industry to improve delivery.”

 

(Photo: Highways England)