Major Projects Authority and Infrastructure UK to come together as the Infrastructure and Projects Authority
Two of the government’s oversight organisations, one of which has had a regular focus on Whitehall IT projects, have been merged in a move to bring the scrutiny of major economic projects under a single umbrella.
The Major Projects Authority (MPA) and Infrastructure UK (IUK) are to operate as the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. An announcement by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury said its scope will include major transformation programmes such as Universal Credit.
It will come into formal existence at the beginning of next year, reporting jointly to the Chancellor and Minister for the Cabinet Office. Tony Meggs, currently chief executive of the MPA, will head up the new organisation with the same job title.
Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) said: “By bringing together Infrastructure UK with the Major Projects Authority, and creating the new National Infrastructure Commission, we are moving to the next stage in our plan to ensure Britain’s economy gets the transformational projects it needs.”
The MPA, housed in the Cabinet Office, was set up in 2011 to oversee the largest government projects.
It has published three annual reports, the second of which provided a warning on the delivery of the G-Cloud. The marketplace for public sector cloud services is now widely used by central government and it could be argued that the MPA’s warning contributed to its relative success once it was established.
IUK was established in 2010 to support major infrastructure projects involving public sector capital.
Image by Paul Clarke © | paulclarke.com
