Raft of ministerial changes at departments overseeing infrastructure and civils sectors

Newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham made 27 ministerial appointments yesterday (20 July), with 10 ministers leaving the government. Here, NCE looks at the ministerial changes across the Whitehall departments responsible for infrastructure and civils planning, development and policy. Transport The new government’s transport policy may remain more stable than other areas after Burnham kept Heidi Alexander as secretary of state for Transport,. Her department is responsible for policy areas including HS2, Roads Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3) and Network Rail’s Control Period 7 (CP7). Alexander replaced Louise Haigh as transport secretary in November 2024. Haigh has now been appointed as first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and minister for the Cabinet Office. As the most senior cabinet office minister, Haigh’s responsibilities will include some aspects of risk, resilience and security policy for critical national infrastructure (CNI). She also oversees the work of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), which acts as the government’s internal watchdog on major infrastructure projects. Energy Burnham has replaced Ed Miliband as secretary of state at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) with Miatta Fahnbulleh. Miliband has been appointed foreign secretary. Fahnbulleh was previously parliamentary under-secretary of state at DESNZ between July 2024 and September 2025. She was also parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) until May 2026 when she resigned in protest at former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership following Labour’s poor performance at the local elections that month. Fahnbulleh now oversees a department which is responsible for policy covering projects such as Sizewell C, Hinkley Point C, Great British Energy – Nuclear’s small modular reactor (SMR) programme, the Great Grid Upgrade, wider grid decarbonisation, and nuclear decommissioning and waste management. Environment Burnham has also replaced Emma Reynolds as secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with Angela Eagle. Reynolds has been moved to chief secretary to the Treasury. Eagle was most recently security minister at the Cabinet Office and Home Office. She now has responsibility for policy areas including flood defence and water infrastructure. Defence Dan Jarvis had only been Ministry of Defence (MOD) secretary of state for just over a month, having replaced John Healey, but he has been replaced by former-health secretary Wes Streeting. Streeting will now oversee the delivery of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which will likely provide an uplift in opportunities for civils firms to work on modernisation and new projects, such as military base upgrades. Housing At MHCLG, Steve Reed was replaced by Angela Rayner as secretary of state. Rayner previously held the role from July 2024 to September 2025. During her previous stint, she was also deputy prime minister. Rayner now has responsibility for planning policy covering both major and minor projects. Science The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has been merged with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Jonathan Reynolds was appointed as secretary of state for business, innovation, science and trade. He will likely have responsibility for attracting inward investment and for helping companies to export their products and services. Treasury At the top of his cabinet, Burnham appointed Healey as chancellor of the exchequer. Healey resigned as defence secretary in June because he wanted more money allocated to the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). After his resignation, the government announced that the DIP would cover £15bn of additional investment in defence, which will include civils work, but is being funded in part by cuts to road and energy projects. Like what you've read? To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here. Have your say or a new account to join the discussion.