Livestock Information Transformation Programme

Rating: Compared to financial year 24/25, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 25/26 decreased to Red. Path to green plan approved by Ministers on 12 May 26.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the projects end date at 23/26 remained the same. This date is however subject to change due to replanning and path to green plan being refined.

Cost: Compared to financial year 24/25 - Q4, the projects departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 remained at £546,650

Source: NISTA Major Projects Annual Report 2025-26 (data)

Rating: The Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 is AMBER. This is due to‚ LITPs overall delivery confidence remains AMBER. Recent and significant changes in delivery approach, planning, assurance and governance are starting to bear fruit, leading to increasing levels of confidence. Progress on core platform delivery remains on track for phased Beta roll-out starting in December 2025. The impending ministerial decision on eartag frequency in England will boost industry confidence and assist with legislative implementation. DA relationships continue to improve, with imminent key decisions on the Wales Multispecies system go-live informing LITP rollout strategy and timelines. Scotland have indicated that they would look to introduce Ultra-High Frequency technology for eartag identification and a ministerial announcement is expected soon. From a programme perspective, we will need to work through the implications of this at both a technical and legislative level to ensure that, regardless of eartag frequency, cross-border moves are dealt with coherently and a consistent UK View of movements is maintained. Implications arising from the ongoing EU SPS ‘dynamic alignment’ negotiations will also need to considered. New financial management arrangements are being implemented that are providing us with greater levels of assurance and control. Endorsement of our new delivery and business planning approach by Investment Committee has given us the mandate to push forward at pace. The draft first phase Programme Business Case is on track to start the assurance and approvals journey at LITP Programme Board in June. Work continues on the delivery of actions to address the recommendations outlined in the Chief Project Delivery Officer's internal review of the programme and the valuable guidance and insights provided by an independent NISTA associate. Further external assurance will be undertaken via the NISTA Gateway review scheduled for w/c 30 June. We continue to engage with ministers who have acknowledged the criticality of the programme, delivering on the original scope while meeting the direction to reduce costs later in the SR period. Setting up work with Core Defra to explore options around future asset control and data ownership that will be taken forward in the next year ahead.

Schedule: The GMPP project is still at the planning stage (Pre-SOC or equivalent) and is not yet in a position to provide cost/schedule information

Cost: The project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) is 478. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ This comprises Livestock Information Transformation Programme costs to replace existing outdated multi-species livestock tracing systems with a modern digital service, replacing existing legacy systems, using a cloud-based approach. This covers resource and capital costs for programme running costs, development and implementation of new IT digital services. This is as per captured in the Outline Business Case.

Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)