Building government project delivery together

My vision is for a dynamic profession, recognised globally for its expertise and commitment to outcomes. However, it is clear we are on a transformational journey, and we have plenty to do to get there.

To achieve this, we must focus on the things that will accelerate our progress: clearer prioritisation, stronger accountability, and more consistent capability – so we deliver high-quality outcomes, reliably and at pace.

We need a culture that rewards openness, realism and joint problem-solving. By sharpening our processes and embracing collaboration we can deliver excellent services and infrastructure.

Smarter working together

Refocusing the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) has given us the opportunity to consult with you and learn how we can work more smartly together.

Our reforms mean that you will have more accountability for delivery at your department and programme/project level. In return, it is important that we can support you in meeting your new responsibilities, providing regular transparent reporting, and in our response to requests for assistance when necessary, so that you can maintain project delivery momentum.

We now have 5 guidelines that reflect behaviours leading to successful delivery which means:

1. Decisions will sit with one accountable person, at the lowest sensible level. Clear ownership accelerates pace and strengthens discipline.
2. The centre should only have oversight where they can work in support of tackling national level risks or where cross-departmental working will help solve issues. This gives you space to lead and maintain momentum.
3. Functional expertise should exist in departments. This means decisions are based on operational reality and made early.
4. Approvals should be done once, be simpler and quicker. This gives you more control and accountability.
5. By sharing information openly, working as one team and listening to one another, we build trust across government.

At the recent Government Project Delivery Awards teams showed what amazing results they can achieve by working in this way on projects to accelerate ethical AI adoption in the NHS, delivering a new command and control system in the military and growing project delivery skills in departments.

For NISTA and the centre, the reforms to our project controls will result in transformative outcomes across our nations and regions, resulting in:

• smarter, more focused assistance for high impact projects
• a reshaped Government Major Projects Portfolio centred on the most critical, complex and strategic work
• stronger use of data to anticipate challenges, share lessons and support better decisions.

What we need from you

Change takes commitment. These reforms are designed to give you more power to deliver, however, they will only succeed if we change how we work together. Collaboration is at the heart of this reform.

So, I’m asking you to:

• engage early with the centre, when designing new ‘high risk’ major projects and bring cross-department challenges forward sooner
• work with openness, share data, share risks, share lessons
• be collaborative, not transactional, because we achieve more when we plan together
• be confident and use your higher spend approvals effectively—make decisions and own your delivery
• focus on outcomes, keeping sight of the people we serve

In turn, my ask of NISTA is that we continue to be the enabling organisation at the heart of government that is here to support and help you. These reforms give us a stronger foundation to drive meaningful change. This is the start of our journey, but it’s you who will make that change real.

By building capability, owning delivery and raising issues early, we can shape outcomes that truly matter. And when we collaborate, challenge with purpose and stay committed to growing as a profession, we unlock our full potential to deliver exceptional projects.

Together, we can create a simpler and more effective system for delivering the UK’s most important projects, one that genuinely improves lives. This journey to modernise project delivery will take time, but we’ve made a great start. I’m inspired by what we can achieve and proud to be working alongside you.

Becky