Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Not to be confused with National Infrastructure Commission.
Infrastructure and Projects Authority
Agency overview
Formed1 January 2016
Preceding agencies
  • Infrastructure UK
  • Major Projects Authority
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
Headquarters1 Horse Guards Road, London, United Kingdom
Agency executive
  • Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive
Parent agencyCabinet Office and HM Treasury
WebsiteIPA

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the United Kingdom government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA sits at the heart of government, reporting to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. The core teams include experts in infrastructure, project delivery and project finance who work with government departments and industry.

The IPA supports the successful delivery of all types of infrastructure and major projects; ranging from railways, schools, hospitals and housing, to defence, IT and major transformation programmes. The IPA leads the project delivery and project finance professions across government.

The IPA was formed in 2016 by the merger of Infrastructure UK (IUK) and the Major Projects Authority (MPA).[1] The IPA Chief Executive was Tony Meggs until July 2019, when he was replaced by Nick Smallwood.[2]

IUK was established in 2010 to support major infrastructure projects involving public sector capital; and the MPA was established in 2011 with a mandate to oversee and assure the largest government projects.

In December 2017 the IPA issued the Transforming Infrastructure Performance report aimed at achieving annual savings of £15 billion per year in infrastructure procurement by increasing collaboration and innovation. On 13 September 2021, a follow-up report, Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030, was published alongside the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline forecasting £650bn investment in UK infrastructure over the next decade.[3]

In May 2024, ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party announced plans to merge the IPA with the National Infrastructure Commission in order to speed up the delivery of major infrastructure projects in the UK. The new body would be called the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Government creates new body to help manage and deliver major projects for UK economy - Press releases - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. ^ "New Government Projects Chief Unveiled". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Policy paper: Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030 Published 13 September 2021". IPA. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  4. ^ Labour vows to break ‘inertia’ of UK infrastructure delivery, Financial Times. 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ Gayne, Daniel (24 May 2024). "Labour would merge National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority". Building. Retrieved 27 May 2024.