The IPA will publish an Annual Report on major projects. As part of the Annual Report the IPA will publish specific information on all GMPP projects including, departmental narratives on the whole life costs, schedules (including any deviations from the planned schedule) and delivery confidence assessment’s over time.

The IPA is committed to data transparency and as such it will take steps to publish some benefits data and more information on early development support of projects in the Annual Report.

The IPA will work with departments to ensure projects are not locked into unrealistic point estimates when announcements are made, and projects use ranges when presenting costs and schedules.

The IPA will create a Benchmarking Hub and make benchmarking data available on key assets to underpin and challenge project investment cases.

The IPA will work with departments to build professional project delivery and leadership capability, establishing the Government Projects Academy as the central governing body for professional project delivery standards, accreditation and training across government.

The IPA will hold responsibility for the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery, Government Project Delivery Framework and Project Delivery Capability Framework, and for providing tools and guidance which support their use.

The IPA CEO will sign off all SRO appointments to major projects in the GMPP, jointly with the Departmental Accounting Officer, and has the right of veto on SRO selection for, and exit from, these projects.

The IPA will set requirements for SRO appointment, time commitment, tenure, attendance on the Major Projects Leadership Academy, and other mandatory training, and will set requirements for the inclusion of such data in SRO appointment letters and GMPP reporting.

The IPA will work to improve recruitment and retention of SROs and project professionals, including measures on remuneration, grading and support.

The IPA will set a requirement for projects to demonstrate SRO capability and capacity in order to move through approvals gates.

The IPA will publish a list of SROs for the GMPP on an annual basis.

The IPA will publish regular procurement pipelines and National Infrastructure and Construction Pipelines to improve market visibility of demand and increase market confidence.

The IPA will manage the UK Guarantee Scheme, which guarantees the principal and interest payments on infrastructure debt issued by the borrower to banks or investors.

Departments must add all projects which meet the existing criteria to the GMPP. These must be agreed with Ministers in the Cabinet Office and the Treasury, on the advice of the CEO of IPA, with the Treasury able to withhold funding in cases of non-compliance.

A formal business case, which defines the scope and operating parameters of a project, must be prepared, in accordance with Treasury guidance, for every major project.

An Accounting Officer Assessment must be produced for projects or programmes on the GMPP, which must be submitted at the Outline Business Case.

An updated Accounting Officer Assessment must be prepared if the project departs from the four accounting officer standards (regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility) or from the agreed plan.

Departments must submit an Integrated Assurance and Approval Plan (IAAP) for all major projects. These must be validated by both the Treasury and the IPA before being recommended to pass through any gated assurance reviews.

Thorough planning at the earliest stages of a project is critical. Before passing through Gate 1 reviews, projects must demonstrate clarity of objectives and success criteria for capital projects (for example through an "Opportunity Framing Workshop").

Departments must keep, and provide to the IPA when requested, data on all their major projects. This data should be kept consistently up to date, and be accurate and complete according to the IPA’s standards and suitable for publication in the Annual Report on Government’s Major Projects.

The data should follow a template set out by the IPA to ensure departments are recording all the necessary information, and provide consistency between departmental records.

Departments and their delivery bodies should provide specified data on projects that will support the IPA’s Benchmarking Hub as required.

Departments must actively support all professional capability training on project delivery that the IPA offers and commit to assessment and accreditation of SROs and project professionals to support delivery of their Spending Review plans.

Departments must appoint a designated Head of Function and Head of Profession to lead on embedding government standards, improving project delivery and building professional capability and capacity within their departmental function and profession.

Departments must ensure that the CEO of the IPA as head of the Government Project Delivery Function is consulted on all proposed GMPP SRO appointments, with agreement to be recorded in a published SRO letter, and that such letters are kept up to date.

Departments should ensure that, to pass through any stage gates, projects have an experienced SRO in place, with a signed appointment letter, the necessary training through the Major Projects Leadership Academy or a written commitment to complete this training.

SRO will not be allowed to leave their role for another post in central government without the consent of the CEO of the IPA.

Departments will provide procurement and pipeline data to the IPA to support the publication of Procurement Pipelines and National Infrastructure and Construction Pipelines.