Colleagues from the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) recently briefed ACE Group members on the latest changes to the updated infrastructure pipeline. ACE's Policy Director, Marie-Claude Hemming, attended the event and explains the importance of the pipeline - and where it needs to go further.

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering recently hosted a members’ drop-in session with NISTA to discuss the latest update to the infrastructure pipeline. 

Engagement was exceptionally strong, reflecting how central the pipeline has become for industry planning, investment decisions and workforce strategy. The discussion was practical and grounded in how members are using the data today, and where it still needs to improve. 

As we know, the pipeline is a 10 year forward view of UK infrastructure investment across public, regulated and private sectors, designed to strengthen market confidence, support planning and help unlock investment. 

Members confirmed it is already embedded in business planning and widely used for forecasting, resource allocation and bidding strategy. The latest update was welcomed for improving data depth, expanding investor focused metrics and strengthening workforce modelling, alongside continued dialogue on how it can be further improved. 

A dominant theme was the need for clearer visibility of project lifecycle stage. Members want a consistent and comparable way of understanding where schemes sit from early development through to procurement and delivery, so they can plan capability and engagement more effectively. 

Data consistency and standardisation were also raised repeatedly. Members highlighted the difficulty of comparing projects across sectors due to differing definitions, levels of detail and data quality. This limits confidence in cross sector analysis and reduces usability for strategic planning. 

Regional and spatial intelligence was another key issue. Members stressed the importance of understanding how infrastructure interacts within specific places, particularly where energy, transport, housing and water investments overlap. Without this, it is harder to anticipate constraints or coordinate delivery across sectors. 

Investor usability was also a major focus. While recent improvements were recognised, members called for clearer signals on risk, planning status and uncertainty. This is essential to improving confidence and enabling better investment decisions. 

Members also highlighted the challenge of aligning infrastructure delivery with decarbonisation objectives. The concern was not the ambition itself, but the lack of clear integration between infrastructure planning and climate related frameworks, which can make it difficult to understand how projects contribute to wider policy goals. 

A further issue raised was the visibility of design activity. Members noted that design is currently embedded within early project stages, making it difficult to see where value and risk are being shaped before delivery. This limits transparency around the early development pipeline and weakens understanding of where critical decisions are being made. 

Clearer visibility of design could improve decision making by showing where projects are being defined and tested before major investment is committed. It could also help reveal real demand for specialist design capability, improve market understanding, and strengthen awareness of how early-stage work influences delivery outcomes. 

Greater clarity on design may also be a way to improve readiness, reduce uncertainty between announcement and delivery, and support better forecasting of cost and risk at an earlier stage. 

Across all these areas, members’ points and the value of continued dialogue were welcomed and taken on board as part of the ongoing development of the pipeline. 

Overall, the session highlighted a strong and constructive dialogue between industry and NISTA. The pipeline is increasingly valued as a strategic tool, but members were equally clear about where it needs to go further.

The consistent message was that clearer lifecycle stages, better data consistency, stronger spatial intelligence, clearer investment signals and improved visibility of design would significantly enhance its value and usability across the sector.