The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has appointed Alison Baptiste as director of operations to lead the joint Treasury and Cabinet Office agency’s work on helping Whitehall departments deliver the government’s biggest schemes – including its technology transformation projects.

IPA chief executive Tony Meggs announced that Baptiste would join from early October, leading the team which provides support and assurance to the projects that form part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio. This includes a range of big-ticket IT and digital schemes, including the implementation of the Emergency Services Network, the rollout of NHS e-referrals, digital transformation programmes across prisons in England and Wales, and the deployment of the Foxhound secure government network.

The IPA’s recent annual report on the 133 projects found eight schemes were rated as red on its Delivery Confidence Assessment traffic light rating system. Of the 36 projects in the technology sector, nine were rated amber-red, 17 were rated amber, and eight were in the amber-green category, and two were assigned a top-tier green categorisation.

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Baptiste will oversee the portfolio of the government’s most complex and high risk projects after joining from the Environment Agency, where she is currently director of strategy and investment. She will replace Andy Lison, who left the IPA last month to join PwC.

Meggs said Baptiste appointment would boost the UK’s “world-class cadre of project delivery professionals at the most senior levels”.

He added: “Alison has a wealth of experience and I have no doubt that she will have an immediate and lasting impact on the IPA and the delivery of projects in government.”
Baptiste said that it was “a challenging but extremely exciting time for project delivery in government”.
She added: “The portfolio of projects to improve public services is wide ranging and ambitious. I look forward to being at the heart of this delivery, working closely with all departments and leading the operations team in the IPA.”
Baptiste has worked in a host of roles at the Environment Agency since joining the non-departmental public body in 2008. In her current role, she had led both infrastructure and transformation projects, and most recently has been working closely with government to develop a new strategy for flood and coastal risk.