NISTA appoints former senior civil servant Becky Wood as its first CEO
The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) has announced the appointment of Becky Wood as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Wood will formally take up her role in June 2025. She is currently a partner at the consultancy firm EY, and prior to that was a commercial advisor at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). For ten-years before that she oversaw major infrastructure developments at the Department for Transport, serving as the senior responsible officer for the Crossrail, Thameslink and Intercity Express programmes. She also has international experience, having worked on significant infrastructure programmes across both public and private sectors in Australia and New Zealand.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said Wood, “brings a wealth of experience from the public and private sector, overseeing some of the biggest transport projects around the world in the past decade. Her appointment is an important milestone for NISTA’s work in getting a grip on infrastructure delivery, powering growth across the country and delivering on our Plan for Change.”
Formally launched at the beginning of this month, NISTA is the body formed by the merger of the IPA and the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
Jones, as lead minister for NISTA, this month also confirmed the creation of a new Council of Expert Advisors to support the implementation of the government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy and delivery of NISTA’s objectives. Jones has invited the incumbent commissioners from the now defunct NIC to form the first council. They are Sir John Armitt, Julia Prescot, Sir Tim Besley, Neale Coleman, Michele Dix, Andy Green, Jim Hall, Sadie Morgan, Kate Willard, Nick Winser. These appointments will be until 31 December 2025, with the exception of Sir John Armitt, Sir Tim Besley, and Sadie Morgan who are due to end before the 31 December 2025 and their appointments will end on the original end dates.
A campaign to appoint a new Chair, and a process for new Council membership, will be launched in due course.
Sir John Armitt, as the first chair of NISTA's council of expert advisors, said Wood joins at “a critical moment for transforming how we plan and deliver the nation’s infrastructure” and that her leadership will be “vital for building an effective and credible institution that can do just that”.
Treasury has also published a memorandum of understanding for NISTA, setting out the framework for the body's functions, operations and governance. Namely:
Overseeing the implementation of the government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy
Unblocking barriers and speeding up delivery of government’s major projects (including supporting departments in overcoming challenges and barriers to achieve delivery outcomes, and advising departments on their highest priority projects, and their financing)
Providing effective assurance for the government’s priority projects
Setting standards and improving the government’s project delivery capabilities
Leading expertise on private finance