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.

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.