Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Audit Office's value for money investigation into the UKHSA’s health security campus programme, published on 28 February 2024, what recent progress her Department has made on the UK Health Security Agency’s health security campus programme in Harlow; what her plans are for the programme; and for what reason the (a) cost estimate and (b) proposed timeline for the programme has been revised.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department and UK Health Security Agency are currently considering the plans for developing a health security campus in Harlow, and the alternatives for developing laboratory facilities at Porton Down. This acknowledges the post-pandemic landscape and reflects continuing annual investment in lab infrastructure. In addition, further assessments of scope, investment costs, lifecycle costs, and delivery risks are being conducted to assure plans for the programme.
As set out in the National Audit Office’s report, the cost estimate for the programme has increased for many reasons, including prolongation, inflation, additional VAT, delays caused by organisational change and the pandemic, as well as essential design changes due to regulatory and technological change.
Detailed design evaluations with construction partners resulted in a reset and extension of the schedule in 2020. Since then, cycles of strategic review, high level investment appraisal, organisational change, and learning from the pandemic have led to further delays to the schedule.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to enforcement notice 310819694 served against the UK Health Security Agency on 31 July 2020 by the Health and Safety Executive, what steps she is taking to ensure that laboratories at Porton Down continue to comply with relevant safety requirements.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2020 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Crown Improvement Notice in relation to the information, instruction, and training for the handling and restraint of animals infected with hazardous biological agents. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) complied with this notice to the satisfaction of the HSE, by their deadline of November 2020. The UKHSA has built upon this through a dedicated human factors specialist in its corporate health and safety function, and a compliance team within the Science Group.
The UKHSA Porton Down high security laboratories meet current HSE guidance. This is tested on a regular basis by site evidence-based inspections, conducted by the HSE.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the UKHSA’s health security campus programme, published on 28 February 2024, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK Health Security Agency has adequate capabilities for (a) identifying, (b) studying and (c) responding to dangerous pathogens.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) scientific expertise and facilities are maintained to ensure it has sufficient capacity and capability to identify, study, and respond to outbreaks of dangerous pathogens. The Department continues to actively consider options for investment, to modernise and enhance the UKHSA’s capabilities.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current condition of the high-security laboratories at Porton Down is.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All of the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) high security laboratories at Porton Down, including the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens’ (ACDP) Containment Level 4 facility, are operational and compliant with all health, safety, and security requirements. The Health and Safety Executive conducts annual inspections of the ACDP Containment Level 4 facilities, and a recent assessment by the UKHSA has also confirmed that with proper maintenance, the high containment facilities can remain operational for at least another decade until they are replaced.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings in the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the UKHSA’s health security campus programme, published on 28 February 2024, on the adequacy of funding for (a) facilities at Porton Down and (b) other pandemic infrastructure.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department remains committed to ensuring that the United Kingdom retains world class secure laboratories, which play a vital role in understanding new threats and developing and evaluating the diagnostic tools, vaccines, and wider clinical countermeasures to combat them.
The Department continues to work closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to ensure that there are appropriate plans in place to respond to future pandemics. This includes critical national infrastructure maintained by UKHSA that provides the specialist capabilities required to respond to emerging and high consequence infectious diseases, such as high containment laboratories and specialist diagnostic equipment.