IPA publishes its sixth annual report

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) publishes its sixth annual report on the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). 

The IPA, which supports the delivery of a range of large government projects, has published its latest annual report on the government’s most important major projects, reporting that 26 have been successfully completed this year.

Commenting on the report APM’s chief executive Sara Drake said:

"This report shows the great strides already made to professionalise project delivery within government and how this is having an impact for the wider public benefit.  It is good to see recognition by the Minister that excellent “project delivery is at the heart of all government activity”.

The challenge now will be to maintain momentum given the resources which will also be required to deliver the transformation stemming from Brexit alongside existing priorities."

Projects delivered range from transformation and ICT programmes which modernise the civil service and make public services more efficient, to infrastructure and construction projects and military capability programmes, which grow our economy, improve productivity and defend the nation.

These include:

• Childhood Flu Immunisation programme - reducing the risk of flu in vaccinated children by 66%.
• Airseeker project - three new military surveillance and intelligence aircrafts that support air and ground forces.
• Francis Crick Institute - the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.
• Government’s role in setting up the Thames Tideway Tunnel - a major new sewer to protect the River Thames and create 4,000 new jobs.
• Hinkley Point C enabling project - securing private investment into a new nuclear plant so construction can begin.
• Hosting Services Refresh – a major refresh of the Department for Work and Pensions’ IT infrastructure, enabling improved digital services for 22 million customers.

The IPA’s Annual Report provides a snapshot of how all GMPP projects were progressing as of September 2017.

The GMPP is a continually evolving portfolio of the government’s most complex and high risk projects and it regularly changes to reflect government policy priorities. The current portfolio includes 133 major projects with a whole life cost of £423 billion, spread across 16 government departments.

Over half of this year’s 26 completed projects received a Green or Amber Green Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) - the IPA’s rating of a project’s chance of success at a specific point in time.  By taking the right steps following reviews and managing challenges effectively, DCAs are often improved and a project’s likelihood of delivery is increased.

The IPA supports the delivery of government projects by helping to set them up for success, building delivery capability in departments and managing more than 200 independent assurance reviews of projects each year.

Cabinet Office Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden MP said:

“We are focussed on building a Britain that is fit for the future and this report shows just how much we have achieved. All of these projects will improve the way we deliver public services in this country.

“Project delivery is at the heart of all government activity as it is the main way we implement our most important policy priorities. Getting these projects right is essential to build a country that works for everyone.”

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick MP said:

“We are investing record amounts in crucial national infrastructure projects that are the foundation of our economy and will boost productivity.

“It’s exciting to see this investment translate into real projects on the ground that will have a long-lasting impact for the public.”

IPA Chief Executive, Tony Meggs said:

“The collective size and scope of these projects is impressive. It takes years of hard work from the cadre of world class project delivery professionals in government to deliver projects of this scale and complexity.”

“The current portfolio of government major projects remains a broad and ambitious one. It is vital that we continue to help create the right environment for their successful delivery.”

Read the Annual Report on Major Projects 2017 to 2018.