GPD-PN 04/26: Publishing senior responsible owner appointment letters for Departmental Major Projects (HTML)

Dear Accounting Officers, Chief Project Delivery Officers and Heads of Profession

This policy note sets out the requirements for publishing senior responsible owner (SRO) appointment letters for Departmental Major Projects (DMPs).

Ministers have agreed that SROs for Departmental Major Projects should remain personally accountable to Parliament, reflecting the status, scale and public interest of these programmes and projects.

As a result, the Departmental evidence and response to select committees guidance (the Osmotherly Rules) applies equally to DMP SROs. This includes the requirement for all DMP SRO appointment letters issued from 1 April 2026 onwards to be published on GOV.UK.

This places the publishing of DMP SRO appointment letters on a consistent footing with the process already in place for the Government Major Projects Portfolio, while recognising that appointment routes and supporting arrangements differ.

This policy note should be read alongside GPD‑PN 01/26: Appointing senior responsible owners in government, which sets out the overall framework for SRO roles, appointment routes and accountability arrangements.

Departments and arm’s length bodies in scope of the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery shall:

• publish SRO appointment letters for Departmental Major Projects issued from 1 April 2026 onward on GOV.UK
• review and update existing GOV.UK content to reflect the inclusion of Departmental Major Project SRO letters
• ensure appointment letter templates, governance processes and publishing arrangements reflect the requirements set out in this policy note and GPD‑PN 01/26
• apply the agreed naming convention for SRO appointment letters to clearly distinguish between GMPP and DMP projects

These actions take effect immediately.

Recent government reforms have introduced a clearer tiering of programmes and projects, including a distinction between:

• projects on the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP)
• Departmental Major Projects (DMPs), defined through HM Treasury’s Treasury approvals process
• other programmes and projects

GPD-PN 01/26 communicates that both GMPP SROs and DMP SROs are personally accountable to Parliament, with accountability formalised through a published appointment letter

This policy note clarifies how that accountability for DMP SROs is formalised, through a published letter, in practice.

For Departmental Major Projects:

• SRO appointment letters must be published on GOV.UK
• the requirement applies to letters issued from 1 April 2026 onward
• letters should be published as soon as reasonably practicable following appointment
• departments are responsible for the accuracy, timeliness and maintenance of published content

This places DMP SRO appointment letters on a consistent footing with those for the Government Major Projects Portfolio, while recognising that appointment routes and supporting arrangements differ.

To enable the publication of Departmental Major Project SRO appointment letters, some minor updates will be required to departmentally owned GOV.UK pages where SRO appointment letters are published.

In particular, departments must ensure that GOV.UK pages:

• make clear that they include appointment letters for both Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) projects and Departmental Major Projects (DMPs); and
• accurately describe the parliamentary accountability arrangements that apply to senior responsible owners of both project types.

These changes are expected to be minor and presentational, focused on page titles and introductory text.

Departments are required to make these updates to ensure clarity, consistency and transparency for Parliament and the public.

Suggested standard wording for these GOV.UK changes is provided in Annex A, which departments should copy and apply as appropriate.

This policy note does not change:

• the definition of the SRO role
• the process for publishing GMPP SRO letters
• the appointment routes or authorities for SROs
• accreditation or training expectations

These remain as set out in:

• GPD‑PN 01/26: Appointing senior responsible owners in government
• Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery
• Managing Public Money
• HM Treasury’s Treasury approvals process
• Departmental evidence and response to select committees: guidance (the Osmotherly Rules)

Departments should update their GOV.UK pages in line with this policy and begin publishing DMP SRO appointment letters with immediate effect.

For advice on this policy or its implementation, contact your NISTA Project Delivery Advisor.

Further information on SRO roles and responsibilities is available at projectdelivery.gov.uk.

I trust that you will disseminate this information to your project delivery teams and stakeholders, including your counterparts in arm’s length bodies, and ensure that this policy is embedded within your organisation’s practices.

Karina Singh

Government Head of Profession for Project Delivery

Deputy Government Head of Function for Project Delivery

This annex provides standard wording for departments to use when updating or creating GOV.UK content to publish senior responsible owner (SRO) appointment letters for major programmes and projects.

The template in this annex is provided to support consistent implementation across departments. Departments may tailor page structure where needed but should not materially alter the meaning or intent of the text, particularly in relation to parliamentary accountability and publication requirements.