After a decade of back-and-forth, the Government has confirmed that the UKHSA labs based in the Wiltshire village of Porton will be moved to Essex to become part of a “world-leading biosecurity centre”. While, at first glance, plans to bring the UK’s health agency under one roof to better combat “emerging public health threats” are hard to dispute, local officials say they are facing economic and reputational chaos as a result of the site’s long-fought relocation. Proposals to merge the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) sites in Porton and Colindale, London, were first floated in 2015, at an estimated cost of £530 million, but years of inaction has since seen the projected sum balloon to £3.2 billion – a rise of more than 500%.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Conservative councillor Rich Rogers told the Express. “Reputationally, Porton Down has become much more established in the last decade, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Novichok poisonings, and it has received a lot more investment. The Porton Science Park is also heavily linked to the UKHSA base – those entrepreneurial businesses are some of the biggest contributors to the local economy. Now, they’ll start looking elsewhere.”
“There are also major staffing implications,” Mr Rogers added. “Highly-skilled personnel will be forced to move elsewhere. They may not want to go, and losing them will mean losing Porton’s international recognition as a base for innovation and excellence.”
A Ministry of Defence Science and Technology laboratory is set to remain at Porton, the Government confirmed, with the existing proximity of the sites a squandered opportunity for “further cooperation between the MoD and the Department for Health and Social Care”, John Glen, Conservative MP for Salisbury, said.
Mr Glen, who was minister for the cabinet office under the last Tory administration, also described the relocation as a “hammer blow” for his constituents, questioning the rationale behind dismantling the site’s “existing expertise and powerful international brand”.
“Porton Down has an established global reputation for cutting-edge science, which has huge value to UK PLC,” he said. “Since the decision was made in 2015 to relocate to a new site in Harlow, the landscape of health security has changed.
“The money invested in the interim at Porton Down is testament to how instrumental the site and staff were in delivering vital research and support during COVID. The costings of this project have also changed … and delivery is now expected 17 years later than originally forecast.”
Mr Glen also criticised Labour’s admission that, while £400 million has already been spent on the project, designs have not been finalised, nor accounts published of the development programme for Harlow – suggesting the scheme could be subject to further delays, as costs continue to mount.
Ian Thorn, Liberal Democrat leader of Wiltshire Council, similarly expressed the local authority’s “deep disappointment” with the Government’s decision, citing concerns of the impact it would have on “staff and the local economy”.
“Whilst it feels like a missed opportunity to build on an already world-class, fully operational site at Porton Down, we are committed to supporting this transition in a way that protects public health and scientific excellence,” he said.
Labour insisted the plan would provide better protection from future pandemics and biosecurity threats, and create the largest National Biosecurity Centre in Europe, with around 1,600 jobs – including an estimated 900 transferred from Porton.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting added that £250 million would be invested in the project over this Parliament as part of wider multi-billion-pound expenditure. “This transformational investment in the UK’s national biosecurity will better protect the British public from future health emergencies, boost the life sciences sector and create new jobs,” he said.
“COVID taught us how crucial it is to be able to respond quickly to new emerging threats, and the new [centre] will allow us to do exactly that – ensuring Britain remains a world leader in pandemic preparedness. By backing innovation, research and life sciences, we will make our NHS fit for the future, and cement the UK as a life sciences superpower as part of our Plan for Change.”