The infrastructure authority has appointed a chief executive to bring national strategy and delivery under one roof, although the roof remains in outline business case.
Infrastructure authority builds the leadership layer
NISTA combines functions from two previous bodies and will support a ten-year strategy. Officials marked the simplification by producing a fresh acronym that sounds like a Scandinavian storage solution.
Montague Gantry, Permanent Secretary for Things Beginning Soon, said: “Britain must fix the foundations. We have therefore appointed someone at roof level and will work down through the org chart.”
The new body aims to address systemic delivery problems that have slowed projects for decades. Its first task is to determine whether the word systemic can support weight or requires an additional consultant.
Meanwhile, major programmes await decisions. Railways, roads and power networks have welcomed the appointment by displaying the traditional infrastructure greeting: a temporary fence carrying a picture of the finished thing.
The authority will align investment, planning and execution. These currently operate in different time zones despite occupying adjacent desks in the Treasury.
By 2035, NISTA expects stronger national infrastructure. Until then, commuters may admire the leadership framework from a replacement bus that is not stopping at this station.
Read the real story: the NISTA chief executive announcement.
Ministers say the appointment proves they are serious about delivery. Britain has warmly welcomed the first completed item in the national infrastructure programme, which is a job title. Engineers are expected to begin work as soon as the authority has established whether a spade counts as a strategic asset or needs a stakeholder engagement plan.
