Prescot new Chair of NISTA Council of Expert Advisers

The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) has appointed Julia Prescot as the new Chair of its Council of Expert Advisers, succeeding Sir John Armitt.

Prescot has worked in global infrastructure investment and delivery  throughout her career and has previously served as Deputy Chair of the 

National Infrastructure Commission, which became part of NISTA in April  2025.

The NISTA Council provides advice to ministers and the NISTA CEO Becky Wood to support the implementation of the Government’s 10 Year strategy for economic, housing and social infrastructure and the delivery of NISTA’s broader objectives, including managing the  Infrastructure Pipeline and supporting the Government Major Projects  Portfolio.

The Chair’s role is a non-executive, part-time position. Julia Prescot’s  appointment is for a five-year term and comes after an open competition. 

She will begin her role as Chair later this month.

NISTA was established in April 2025 to improve the Government’s management of major projects and lead the cross-government delivery of the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy. 

The NISTA Council of Expert Advisers supports  the delivery of NISTA’s strategy and objectives and provides challenge and scrutiny of NISTA’s work. 

The terms in office of the previous members of the NISTA Council of Expert Advisers all formally ended at the end of 2025.

A recruitment process to appoint five new members is underway with the support of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.