3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: August 2021 3.2 In 2020, the IPA worked across government to ensure that every project that meets the eligibility criteria is included in the GMPP, which has led to an increase in the size of the portfolio. The IPA encourages departments to notify it of prospective major projects as soon as possible in the policy formulation process. In doing so, the IPA has improved its ability to provide the right support and scrutiny of projects and embed deliverability principles early, including through the recently published Principles for Project Success and the Project Initiation Routemap. 3.3 The IPA recently separated its support and assurance functions to ensure evaluations of projects are consistently robust and impartial. From 2021, the GMPP RAG rating system will be simplified from five categories (Red, Red/Amber, Amber, Amber/Green, Green) to three (Red, Amber and Green). The focus of IPA assessment will shift from ‘overall delivery confidence’ to the singular question of whether a project is ready to progress through the next HM Treasury Approval Point. The IPA’s support will now be required for advancement, rather than being merely advisory. Projects ranked red will not be permitted to proceed until issues are managed to an acceptable level of risk. Projects ranked amber will proceed with conditions, including a duty to report back at an agreed date. Projects ranked green will proceed without conditions, subject to usual quarterly data returns and monitoring. 3.4 As of September 2019, 43 projects were assigned Red or Amber/Red. The reasons for this varied by project. The IPA will write to the Committee within six months to update it on the actions taken and progress made on these projects.