From transparency to transformation: What NISTA’s first annual report means for the project profession

The first annual report from the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) is arguably a significant moment for the UK project delivery community. It marks the debut of a new body at the heart of government that brings together two previously separate capabilities: the strategic insight of the National Infrastructure Commission and the delivery oversight of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

For the first time, the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) has been reviewed under this new, integrated approach. These projects have a combined whole-life cost of £996bn and cut across infrastructure, service transformation, defence and digital change. It is a stark reminder of the complexity at the heart of our government and public services.

An honest baseline

The annual report makes it clear about the complexities that lie ahead. At the March 2025 reporting point:

14% of projects had a Green Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA): a high likelihood of successful delivery.
63% were amber: achievable but facing significant issues requiring active management.
15% were red: currently undeliverable without changes to scope, approach, or resources.

While those figures might appear stark, for those of us in the profession they are a familiar reality: portfolios like the GMPP are intentionally weighted towards complexity, innovation - and ambition. Amber and red ratings are not failures; they should be considered prompts for deeper planning, fresh capability and creative approaches.

Why NISTA matters

The establishment of NISTA is, in my opinion, one of the most promising major government reforms in recent history. It reflects a recognition that large-scale public programmes succeed when strategy, resources and delivery capability are aligned from the outset and kept aligned throughout their lifecycle.

Too often, those three elements operate in parallel rather than in concert:

Strategy is agreed without a realistic sense of delivery capacity.
Budgets are allocated without understanding the operational risks.
Delivery oversight happens without reference to the original strategic intent.

For project and programme managers, this disconnect can mean inheriting initiatives that are either over-specified for the resources available or under-scoped for the ambition they are meant to achieve.

NISTA’s portfolio-wide view offers an opportunity to close these gaps. Tools like the Infrastructure Pipeline are not merely about industry engagement; they can be used to sequence work, manage demand on scarce skills and ensure that delivery teams are primed to execute when funding is released.

Implications for the profession

For the project community, three themes from the annual report stand out:

Strategic integration

Every project benefits from a clear “line of sight” to the wider portfolio strategy. As practitioners, we should actively seek to understand and challenge where necessary, how our project’s scope and delivery model align with broader objectives and constraints.

Whole-life governance

Leadership changes, shifting accountabilities and loss of organisational memory are among the most common sources of delay and cost overrun. The profession has a role to play in advocating for continuity in Senior Responsible Owners and in capturing knowledge so it can survive personnel turnover.

Learning at pace

Cross-government and cross-sector learning remains patchy. We know there are pockets of excellence, but lessons too often remain locked within departments or organisations. The profession can push for and help design mechanisms to share learning in real time.

From information to action

One of the most valuable aspects of NISTA’s annual report is the visibility it gives the project profession into the government’s delivery health. The DCAs, when aggregated across the GMPP, tell us where risk is concentrated and where attention is most urgently needed.

But the real challenge is converting that visibility into action:

Adjusting project priorities when capacity is stretched.
Sequencing delivery to avoid supply chain challenges.
Reinforcing teams where the same delivery issues keep arising.
Building in early and sustained engagement with those on the front line of service delivery.

These are areas where skilled project professionals can make a tangible difference.

A forward agenda for delivery

For NISTA’s model to work, it will need partnership with the project profession, inside and outside government. There is scope for:

Embedding consistent portfolio management disciplines across departments and agencies.
Using early-stage “strategic gateways” to test whether scope, resources and delivery readiness are genuinely in balance.
Growing a cross-government cadre of project leaders, with incentives to stay in role through the life of a programme.
Making post-project learning the norm, so that insights flow into live work without delay.

The annual report gives a high-level view of what is happening. Our profession’s role is now to bring those insights to life in the day-to-day decisions that shape outcomes.

Seizing the opportunity

For project and programme managers, NISTA’s first annual report is both a snapshot in time as well as a call to action. It shows the sheer breadth and ambition of the public sector’s delivery agenda but also reminds us that ambition alone is not enough. Success depends on how effectively we integrate strategy, resources and delivery capability.

If NISTA can act as a hub for that integration and if the profession leans in to support that mission; the GMPP can be more than a list of challenging projects. It can be the backbone of the UK’s future prosperity, resilience and public value.

The message for practitioners is clear: our expertise is not just in delivering projects, but in shaping the conditions in which delivery can succeed. Transparency is the starting point. Reform and transformation is the goal.