1.1 The government implements many of its objectives through projects. The Government's Major Projects Portfolio (the Portfolio), is made up of the projects that require HM Treasury approval, reflecting their size, risk and impact (Figure 1). In June 2015, the Portfolio's 149 projects had a combined value of £511 billion. These consisted mainly of government transformation and service delivery projects, ICT projects and infrastructure and construction projects. The government funds most of the projects (£392 billion), with the remainder funded by consumers or business (£119 billion). Most of the value of the latter is made up of Department of Energy & Climate Change projects (£99 billion) funded largely through consumer levies. Departments planned to spend £25 billion on the projects in the Portfolio in 2015-16.
Figure 1 There are four main types of project in the Portfolio | |||
Category | Number of projects as of June 2015 | Whole-life cost as of June 2015 | Characteristic |
Government transformation and service delivery projects | 55 projects | £175 billion | Projects to change how the government operates, modernising government 'back office' activities and improving delivery of services to the public. |
Infrastructure and construction projects | 30 projects | £170 billion | Projects involving new building and engineering. |
Defence equipment projects | 24 projects | £146 billion | Ministry of Defence's equipment projects. |
ICT projects | 40 projects | £20 billion | Projects to develop new digital information and communication technologies to reduce costs and provide better access to services. These are central to the government's digital strategy to transform the way it provides public services. |
Source: Analysis of June 2015 departmental data provided to the Major Projects Authority | |||