The National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) has launched the infrastructure pipeline tool. It has gone live with nearly 800 projects worth £531bn in total over the next 10 years.
The data in the pipeline tool is drawn from 40 government departments, public bodies and regulated businesses. NISTA announced the planned launch last month, when the government’s Infrastructure Strategy was revealed.
The largest sectors represented include energy (37% of planned investment), health and social care (17%), transport (14%), and the water and wastewater sector (13%), followed by other infrastructure such as education and defence.
According to the pipeline’s introduction page, data includes a mix of information on projects and programmes, including detailed cost estimates for specific projects, agreed budgets from company business plans and programme-level funding allocations from government and regulators. “It is best understood as an articulation of potential demand and forthcoming investment opportunities across the projects and programmes where data is currently available,” the introduction explains.
The pipeline search tool enables users to search by 15 main sectors, then by subsectors (from education as a main sector, to schools or further education as subsectors), scheme status, funding source and status of spend.
Search results can be downloaded as csv files.
The pipeline tool contains fewer projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, reflecting devolution arrangements. Each nation publishes its own list of infrastructure plans, and in time, NISTA plans to make better links between these and the pipeline tool.
Next iteration plans
The next iteration of the pipeline tool is due in January 2026. But before then, NISTA plans to backfill missing details for projects already in the tool and add more projects, including those in the third Road Investment Strategy due in the autumn and the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband, plus data from the mayoral combined authorities.
NISTA chief executive Becky Wood said: “NISTA is committed to working with investors, operators and construction firms on future iterations to ensure the pipeline is where private and public sector partners will stand firmly behind a shared ambition to do things better.
“We’ve listened to a wide range of voices to ensure this pipeline is designed to give the infrastructure sector the information and insights needed to plan with confidence and to build the skills, workforce and supply chains required.”
