The government’s new infrastructure body will be a joint unit of the Treasury and the Cabinet Office, Keir Starmer has said.
The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, which is set to be up and running by spring, will merge the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the National Infrastructure Commission.
The prime minister has now confirmed that responsibility for all of the IPA’s functions and responsibilities – including the civil service’s project delivery expertise and functions, and assurance reviews for the government’s largest projects – will move from the Cabinet Office to the Treasury as part of the move.
In a statement to the House of Commons last week, Starmer also said Treasury permanent secretary James Bowler will be principal accounting officer for NISTA. The lead minister for the new body will be the chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones.
In a speech in October, Jones said NISTA would "get a grip" on delays to infrastructure delivery that he said had "plagued" the UK's global reputation with investors.
The Treasury is currently in the process of recruiting a chief executive for the infrastructure body, who will also serve as head of the government's project delivery function. Applications for the £200,000-a-year role closed yesterday.
The chief exec will lead a team of around 240 civil servants and "advise on the improvement of quality, cost, schedule, performance and project outcomes", according to the job advert.
The machinery of government changes will take effect on 1 April, the PM said.