The Major Projects Authority was established in March 2011 with a mandate to improve project delivery across government through robust assurance processes. Since then, the Authority has developed a range of interventions to give assurance over government major projects and to support HM Treasury approval and funding decisions. The Authority won the Public Accounts Committee award for Outstanding Value for Money in 2013.
The Major Projects Authority is responsible for providing assurance over the Government Major Projects Portfolio, which consists of 199 major projects with total lifetime costs in excess of £400 billion. The Authority has published two annual reports; (for 2012-13) in May 2013 and (for 2013-14) in May 2014. This inquiry will look at the status of projects within the government major projects portfolio, assess how the Authority is addressing the Committee’s recommendations in the 2012 report Assurance for major projects, and those made by Lord Browne, in key areas such as strengthening government project delivery; and examine how far the Authority’s annual reports satisfy the Committee’s call for ‘complete and transparent disclosure’ of project information.