The Treasury Information Systems (TrIS) Innovation Awards are a cornerstone of HM Treasury’s commitment to digital excellence. Orchestrated by the Business Relationship Management Team, they recognise individuals, teams and projects that have delivered outstanding improvements to the way we work—whether through smarter processes, cutting-edge technology or new organisational practices.

Innovation is not just about technology; it is about finding smarter ways of working that save time, reduce risk and deliver better outcomes for colleagues and the public we serve. By celebrating success, we:

  • Highlight practical solutions that others can adopt

  • Encourage a culture of continuous improvement

  • Showcase how collaboration drives measurable value

Innovating for better project delivery across government

Across project delivery in government, two major innovations are setting new standards for efficiency, productivity, and progress across the UK’s major projects, programmes and portfolios. Developed with the input of diverse project delivery professionals, The Teal Book is the first single point of reference for how to do project delivery in government, while Scout uses AI technology to streamline assurance reviews. These initiatives are already producing tangible benefits and reshaping how government delivers for people across the UK, with The Teal Book recognised as Innovation of the Year 2025 at the TrIS (Treasury Information Systems) Innovation Awards.

The Teal Book: a comprehensive reference for government project delivery and Innovation of the Year 2025

Project delivery is one of the government’s largest functions, with more than 26,000 professionals responsible for an £834 billion spend across the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). Yet, until recently, there was no single point of reference defining how delivery should be done. This lack of alignment across government led to duplication and inconsistent practices, jeopardising the efficiency and quality of delivery.

Government Project Delivery – the collaborative organisation supporting the project delivery function and profession across government – published The Teal Book to address these inconsistencies. The Teal Book was the first cross-government code of practice for project delivery, developed over six months using a user-centred, digital-first approach. It sets out clear, accessible guidance tailored to the realities of government work. Rather than a static PDF, it is published as an iteratively updated webpage (www.projectdelivery.gov.uk), making it easy to navigate, update, and embed across departments and the supply chain.

The development of The Teal Book was underpinned by collaboration and actioning of stakeholder feedback. More than 250 stakeholders contributed, 1,500 pieces of feedback were incorporated, and over 7,000 users participated in consultation. The result is a resource shaped by the function, for the function, ensuring it meets the needs of project teams.

Government Project Delivery is hosted by the newly formed National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), an organisational unit of HM Treasury. NISTA was formed to achieve several core objectives, and The Teal Book is crucial to this work, especially to:

• Unblock barriers and streamline delivery of government’s major projects

By providing practical guidance throughout the full life cycle of projects, programmes, and portfolios, The Teal Book streamlines delivery by providing easy-to-apply, best practice frameworks for teams to implement, tailored to the unique challenges of government.

• Set standards and improve the government’s project delivery capabilities

Offering a single source of truth for all government projects, programmes, and portfolios, The Teal Book provides practical guidance for teams to follow. It builds on the expectations in the Government Functional Standard GovS 002: Project Delivery, offering a core, definitive reference. The Teal Book forms part of the wider Government Project Delivery offer to government organisations, with professional capability pathways such as accreditation aligned to the book’s guidance.

"This innovation exemplifies collaboration and impact at scale, and we are proud to recognise the team behind it." - Rebecca Coady, Director of Operations, HM Treasury

The Teal Book has already had significant impact, seeing over 131,000 page views and 15,110 active users from 243 organisations. It is being used across diverse government organisations, referenced in policy development, and adopted internationally - delivering significant productivity and efficiency savings. The digital-first approach makes The Teal Book a living resource, not just a set of static rules.

This success was recognised at the TrIS Innovation Awards 2025, where The Teal Book won Innovation of the Year. The award celebrates digital excellence and transformative IT solutions across HM Treasury; The Teal Book was acknowledged for its excellent user design, its ability to improve efficiencies at scale, and its real-time feedback collection.

By embedding consistent practices cross-government, The Teal Book underpins NISTA’s ambition for a more productive and agile state and helps maximise the impact of government infrastructure investment - helping government deliver better outcomes at scale. It is also future proofed to take advantage of developments in AI and LLMs, such as NISTA’s AI tool Scout.

Scout: streamlining assurance reviews with AI

Preparing for a government project assurance review presents a significant challenge – reading and digesting thousands of pages of documentation and being able to focus on what matters. While assurance reviews are critical for good governance, they are often time-consuming and resource intensive.

Scout, developed by NISTA in partnership with No 10, i.AI, and the Cabinet Office, is changing that. This AI-powered tool is designed for project delivery professionals, helping them rapidly analyse project documentation against assurance criteria. Scout doesn’t replace human judgement, instead it mimics it, highlighting key areas for scrutiny and enabling experts to focus where they add most value.

Early testing results show clear promise, demonstrating a 92.5% accuracy rate and a 50% reduction in document analysis time. For assurance reviewers, that means less time buried in paperwork and more time making informed decisions. Scout features a chatbot, a document viewer, the ability to read charts and images, and integration with data sources, creating a smooth, intuitive user experience.

Scout’s vision goes beyond document analysis. It aims to become a collaborative assurance workstation, where NISTA, departments, and reviewers can share insights, build understanding, and make better decisions together. By connecting data and people, Scout brings transparency and shared purpose to project assurance.

Work is ongoing to progress Scout’s development and realise its full potential, including further testing across departments. Scout has already demonstrated its worth as a practical, secure, and user-friendly tool that can boost productivity across government project delivery. It has been tested with 6 departments on a range of reviews, both live and recently concluded.

One of NISTA’s core objectives is to:

• Provide effective assurance for the government’s priority projects

Scout is a direct enabler of this objective, streamlining the assurance process and delivering rapid, accurate analysis through a user-friendly, secure platform. Through reducing both the time and resource involved, Scout enables more assurance reviews to be completed, strengthening oversight of the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Summary

The Teal Book’s win at the TrIS Innovation Awards 2025 is testament to its scalable impact. Alongside Scout, it exemplifies the innovation that NISTA and Government Project Delivery are driving to make government projects more efficient and consistent. By setting standards and harnessing technology, these initiatives are enabling government project delivery professionals to deliver better outcomes for the UK, at scale and with confidence.