A list of proposed upgrades was published alongside the Labour government’s first infrastructure pipeline published yesterday.
The update will also feature projects linked to the third Road Investment Strategy, expected in autumn 2025, as well as programmes associated with base costs for regulated energy networks.
These additions follow the publication of RIIO-3 Draft Determinations on 1 July 2025.
Further detail will also be provided on the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure.
NISTA has said it will gather additional information on all projects and programmes already covered in the pipeline, particularly where current data is incomplete or only presented at a programme level.
This includes identifying and publishing project-level detail for schemes under high-level programme lines, subject to the outcome of the 2025 Spending Review.
New functionality will be added to the online dashboard to indicate what information is new in each release. NISTA will also make further changes to the design and operation of the dashboard based on user feedback.
To improve data quality and reduce the burden on contributors, NISTA will begin the roll-out of a new digital platform for collecting infrastructure data. The system is intended to improve the frequency and reliability of reporting across government and industry.
As part of a wider collaboration with delivery partners, NISTA will also begin to scope two new workstreams. The first will explore how pipeline data might generate insights into future demand for skills and labour. The second will assess how to improve the pipeline’s usefulness to investors, including what information would best support decision-making and investment confidence.
The planned changes form part of NISTA’s long-term vision to improve the pipeline across five dimensions: comprehensiveness, timeliness, foresight, transparency around uncertainty, and integration with wider infrastructure systems.
To support industry planning, NISTA aims to provide a full picture of expected activity over a five-year horizon, and a ten-year view where possible.
It intends to build comprehensive coverage on a sector-by-sector basis, including both a full list of projects and greater detail on individual schemes.
NISTA said it would continue to update the pipeline on a six-month cycle but intends to switch to quarterly updates in future.
This transition will take place once data collection processes are stable and the extent of project-level change between updates is better understood.
The pipeline will increasingly seek to reflect projects at earlier stages of development, where need has been identified or a business model is in place.
NISTA said this would give a clearer picture of future infrastructure demand, even where funding is not yet confirmed.
In line with the Construction Playbook, future editions will also begin to reflect uncertainty in cost and delivery schedules, moving away from point estimates to more realistic ranges.
NISTA also committed to ensuring the pipeline is integrated with wider systems of infrastructure delivery. Early priorities include improving interoperability with other public sector pipelines, including those maintained by devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with procurement pipelines required under the Procurement Act 2023.
The January 2026 update will be the latest in a series of planned improvements as NISTA seeks to transform the pipeline into a more useful, future-facing tool for delivery bodies, suppliers and investors.
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Colin Marrs