The UK government has announced plans to overhaul how major public projects are delivered, including the creation of a new School of Government to strengthen civil service expertise in programme and project management.
Speaking on Monday, Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, set out reforms aimed at accelerating delivery and improving accountability across large infrastructure and public sector programmes. The measures include enhanced training, more flexible approaches to project delivery and changes to recruitment, performance management and decision-making processes.
At the centre of the reforms is the proposed School of Government, which will train civil servants in areas such as project leadership, programme management and operational delivery. Ministers also signalled greater use of agile methods, drawing on lessons from the Covid-19 Vaccine Taskforce, which was credited with rapidly coordinating procurement and distribution.
Industry representatives said the changes reflected growing recognition that weak project governance has contributed to delays and cost overruns across public programmes.
Andrew Baldwin, head of policy and public affairs at the Association for Project Management, said the proposals were a step in the right direction. “Vast sums of taxpayers’ money are invested in major projects,” he said. “We need confidence that this money is being managed by competent professionals, supported by recognised qualifications.”
He added that the focus on formal delivery methods and long-term capability marked a shift away from ad hoc approaches. “Project delivery isn’t something that can be cobbled together at the last minute,” he said. “It requires sustained investment and expertise.”
The announcement echoes recommendations from a recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Project Delivery, Building a Better Future, which called for delivery skills to become a permanent feature of government. The report warned of a persistent “valley of death” between policy design and practical implementation, where many projects falter.
It also urged ministers to make project management training mandatory for senior civil servants and for anyone overseeing government schemes worth more than £10m, arguing that leadership capability was essential to improving outcomes.
Henry Tufnell, chair of the APPG for Project Delivery, said the scale of upcoming investment made reform urgent. “With billions of pounds set to flow into infrastructure over the next decade, we have a generational opportunity to improve people’s lives,” he said. “That requires a radical shift in how projects are delivered.”
He described training for senior officials as “the first step” towards embedding delivery discipline within the civil service and called on ministers to adopt the APPG’s wider recommendations.
The government said the reforms would complement existing work by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, as it seeks to professionalise project management and reduce the risk of costly delays.
