The Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) will be cut from 200 to 80 tomorrow (1 April) as Westminster seeks to reform “complex systems”.
It says the decision is about driving “departmental accountability and improving value for money for taxpayers through focused support in priority areas, resulting in better delivery of our vital infrastructure and public services underpinning the government’s growth agenda”.
The GMPP is a group of the UK’s most high-risk and strategically significant projects and programmes.
Project scrutiny
The portfolio will continue to be overseen by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which will now be expected to develop its role earlier in a project, as part of an overall strategy to continue offering guidance with added scrutiny.
“For too long, projects have been run through overly complex systems that slow decisions down and blur accountability,” chief secretary to the Treasury James Murray explained. “Refocusing the GMPP means we can direct specialist expertise to the most complex, high-risk and strategically relevant projects – so that we deliver faster, improve value for money, and strengthen public services in ways people will feel.”
