UK Government's 10-year Infrastructure Strategy – A Strong Foundation To Build On?

On 19 June 2025 the UK Government published its 10-year infrastructure strategy setting out its long-term approach to infrastructure development across the UK. The strategy forms part of a wider package of policies the government has released recently (including the Industrial Strategy and its eight related sector plans¹) and is intended to instil confidence in investors and drive economic growth.

The Infrastructure Strategy sets out a number of policies and reforms, including the role of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), the launch of a digital 10-year infrastructure project pipeline, the revision and development of previous appraisal methods and a limited return to new public-private partnerships (PPP) to encourage private capital investment in public infrastructure.

National INFRASTRUCTURE and service authority

The newly established NISTA consolidates the former Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the National Infrastructure Commission. It is intended to act as the central authority for infrastructure planning, project assessment and delivery coordination across government.

NISTA's core responsibilities will include:

• advising on project prioritisation and financing models;
• supporting departments and delivery bodies on procurement and structuring;
• leading spatial infrastructure planning across sectors; and
• supporting investment into both economic and social infrastructure.

One of NISTA's early deliverables will be the development of the national spatial planning platform, a digital tool using policy data, geospatial modelling and AI to map infrastructure demand and constraints across regions. It is intended to inform longer-term assessments through to 2035 and/or 2050. While NISTA will lead its development, the platform will be aligned with several sectoral spatial plans with the hope that this will ensure consistency across government and provide greater certainty for investors.

Reforming Infrastructure Appraisal

The Infrastructure Strategy commits to revising the approach taken to the appraisal and evaluation of infrastructure projects, led by the Treasury.

In January 2025, the Green Book Review² identified a number of weaknesses including complexity, lack of transparency, and insufficient focus on place-based outcomes.

In response, the Treasury announced that it plans to:

• introduce place-based business cases, allowing for grouped and coordinated projects by geography. This is an interesting concept that could help projects demonstrate broader benefits and pursue joint approvals, though its practical implementation remains uncertain.
• simplify the Green Book and associated guidance (with a revised version expected in early 2026);
• clarify the role of Benefit-Cost Ratios in appraisal decisions; and
• commission an independent review of the discount rate (the percentage used to convert future costs and benefits into their present value), with a view to enabling fairer assessments of longer-term, transformational projects. There appears to be a general consensus that the rate will be reduced from its current level of 3.5%.

NISTA Infrastructure Pipeline

The reformed appraisal guidance will be supported by the NISTA Infrastructure Pipeline which was launched as a live digital tool on 17 July 2025³.

The pipeline sets out 780 planned projects worth £530 billion across the transport, energy, education and healthcare sectors, and will aim to provide:

• visibility over project timelines and funding status;
• structured information on project sponsors and procurement routes; and
• identification of private investment opportunities.

NISTA intends to add new projects and updates at least every six months and it will be interesting to see how well the tool evolves to support meaningful delivery and oversight of infrastructure projects.

Public-Private Partnerships

The Infrastructure Strategy also signals an ambition to crowd in private capital, including through a return to PPPs (with an updated approach).

The government has acknowledged the structural failings of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and its successor PF2, drawing on findings from the recent National Audit Office review: "Lessons Learned: private finance for infrastructure"⁴.

While no formal new contract model has yet been adopted, the revised approach is intended to be characterised by:

• clearer project mandates to improve value-for-money outcomes;
• greater pipeline and procurement transparency, with visibility intended to be improved through the infrastructure pipeline referred to above;
• updated criteria for assessing the suitability of private finance; and
• increased public sector capability and support for structuring investment.

Projects such as the Euston station expansion for HS2 as well as select health and defence facilities schemes are expected to inform the evolution of a future UK PPP model, including the UK Government's approach to budget classification.

In the interim, NISTA will also oversee legacy PFI contracts under its PFI Contract Management Programme.⁵

Next Steps

The government intends to review and update the Infrastructure Strategy every two years with the following milestones:

Footnotes

1.nbsp;The Sector Plans, the first six of which have been published so far, are (1) Clean Energies Industries, (2) Advanced Manufacturing, (3) Creative Industries, (4) Digital and Technologies, (5) Professional and Business Services, (6) Financial Services, (7) Life Sciences and (8) Defence.

2.nbsp;https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-book-review-2025-findings-and-actions/green-bookreview-2025-findings-and-actions

3.nbsp;https://www.gov.uk/government/news/infrastructure-pipeline-kicks-off-new-era-of-infrastructure-delivery

4.nbsp;https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/lessons-learned-private-finance-for-infrastructure.pdf

5.nbsp;Read our recent guide on "Navigating through to the end of legacy PFI" here.

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