NISTA cuts projects from 200 to 80

The GMPP is a set of the most complex, high-risk and strategically significant projects and programmes across government, and there had previously been criticism that the original portfolio was too large and unfocused.

Key schemes for the logistics sector remain within the updated pipeline, including the Lower Thames Crossing, Heathrow Expansion Programme, A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Project, and the Rail Sector Transformation Programme. A full, updated list of projects in the GMPP can be found here.

From 1 April, to be included in the GMPP, projects must meet the criteria set out in the Treasury Approval Process guidance and must also meet all of the following requirements: support a top government priority; have whole-life costs of more than £1 billion; and be a project that would benefit most from focused central support and scrutiny.

To underpin the new pipeline, NISTA has also introduced an official definition of a “mega project”: one with “transformational impacts on the economy, society or national security, with whole-life costs above £10 billion, which typically will take more than 10 years to deliver”.