UK Health Security Agency: Porton Down

Lauren Sullivan Excerpts

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend; I recall the many conversations that we had on this matter.

How can we be in a situation where £530 million—Public Health England’s initial estimated cost for the whole programme in 2015—became an estimated £3.2 billion in 2023? I am not sure if that is the very latest figure. Of even greater concern to me is the fact that it was estimated in 2015 that the project would be completed by 2021, yet the best estimate now is that it will not be fully operational until 2036 at the earliest, which is 11 years away. That is if the programme remains at Harlow.

[Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)]

I had the great fortune to visit Porton Down with the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and the Defence Committee. As a research scientist who has worked in category 3 suites, seeing category 4 suites at first hand was quite an eye-opener. I saw the incredible dedication of our scientists, who have served this country incredibly well despite the many attacks that have happened. We definitely need to renovate the labs and have a facility that is secure and that helps to support the jobs of scientists across the country.

[John Glen]

I am extremely grateful to be made aware of the hon. Lady’s visit and of her support for the capabilities that we undoubtedly need in this country.

I will go back to give some context. As I mentioned in the 2010 debate, the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, as it was known and as many—certainly my retired constituents—still refer to it locally, plays a crucial role in the life of this country and has done for more than 100 years. I suspect that one reason why it is a massive challenge to deliver this project is that a lot has happened during the considerable time that has elapsed since 2015, much of it unexpected. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned, Porton’s sister establishment, DSTL, was instrumental in dealing with the Novichok attack in 2018 in Salisbury. During covid, the established expertise at Porton was critical in the support of our nation during the vaccine development and testing process.

My hypothesis is that while peacetime, desk-based studies in Whitehall may have favoured Harlow as a hub back in 2015—it may also have been a function of the former Chancellor George Osborne’s PPS being the MP for Harlow—the reality of how the actual needs of the country played out in practice has shown beyond doubt that Porton has remained instrumental in delivering translational health research for our nation in the interim. Instead of that group of civil servants challenging themselves in the light of events, it was more convenient, in an environment where political sponsorship had moved on, for them to keep driving forward the Harlow vision, even when the labs needed conversion, the planning process was delayed and the lifespan of Porton proved to underline the resilience of the Wiltshire site.

That was reinforced to me just three years ago in 2022, when the Health and Social Care Secretary, Sir Sajid Javid, came to visit Porton Down alongside Professor Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive, to open a new groundbreaking facility. The two-storey, 22,000 square foot building was one of two that made up a new £65 million vaccine development and evaluation centre, which was built to help to develop and licence new vaccines and cement the UK as a global leader in testing against future variants of the virus. At the time, the Department’s press release said:

“Technologies like those at Porton Down are vital to tackling both COVID-19 and a broad range of emerging health security threats, and this has been recognised by the government’s…funding to progress research into vaccines to help future-proof the world from diseases.”

At that point, Jenny Harries said:

“It was a pleasure to be able to tour these…world-class facilities, with the Health and Social Care Secretary…which will help further establish the UKHSA and its Porton Down site as a global leader of vaccine testing and variant research in the fight against COVID-19. The work undertaken…will define the UK’s future pandemic response.”

I was left pondering—while obviously bound by the strictures of ministerial collective responsibility not to ask the question—why, if Harlow was the answer, such significant additional, separate, parallel capital investment was being made at Porton. Porton remains a world leader in examining diseases that spread rapidly, including insect-borne diseases such as West Nile fever and malaria. It is a world-class centre for translational research that helps to ensure new discoveries are developed and translated from the mind of the scientist into real benefits in tested medicines for patients.

Porton routinely works with partners to develop tuberculosis vaccines and vaccines for whooping cough, meningitis and anthrax. Porton has the biggest TB group in Europe. It has an aerosol delivery function using specialist equipment and a settled, secure setting established after many generations of proven delivery for our nation. Porton is routinely used to do work for the US Government. It is one of very few centres in the world with the capability and experienced staff to carry out that work.

The conclusions of the Public Accounts Committee last May raised the most serious potential consequence of continued indecision. It said:

“As more time passes with no decision on this critical programme the risk of a gap in service for the UK’s high containment public health laboratories grows, with concerning implications for our health security.”

Given the significant interim capital investment, there needs to be a serious review of what is going on here. We know about the risk to the 2036 Harlow completion date because of this indecision and the runaway costs. We also know that the best option must be defined swiftly. I think that is delivering a phased refurbishment on existing sites at Porton Down and Colindale, as set out by the UKHSA chief executive to the Public Accounts Committee in March, allowing Porton to continue its proven record of delivering world-class research and ensuring no such gap in our health capabilities.

I respectfully ask the Minister, recognising her limited experience of this issue, but respecting very much the office that she carries, whether she can explain to the House this evening how the country can go from an identified need to upgrade the Porton facilities by the then Health Protection Agency at Porton in 2006, to a situation 19 years later where three business cases have been produced by the Public Health England and the UKHSA project team—by up to 92 people—and the programme still has not received full approval. What about the wishes of some 900 world-class scientists working in south Wiltshire, over 90% of whom, when asked previously by their trade union, did not want to move? When will this decision be made? Given their unique skillsets, how will replacements be found for the large proportion who will not want to be relocated?

I urge the Minister to challenge the documents put in front of her and to actively consider what my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay) has said, given his experience as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and as Secretary of State. Will she consider that, given the investment announced by Sajid Javid three years ago, Porton Down has been equipped to continue to serve the nation far into the future?

Is continuing to pursue the vision of a Harlow hub, with its £3.2 billion price tag and 11-year delivery horizon, throwing good money after bad? We have spent £400 million, and we have £2.8 billion left to find. Effectively, we are clinging to a redundant plan that briefly made sense—just about, although I was never shown or able to see the outline business case 10 years ago—but that no longer truly reflects what we can afford and the realities of this country’s public health and security needs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ashley Dalton]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the benefits of all options will be considered.

[Dr Sullivan]

Will my hon. Friend also take into account the multidisciplinary roles and spaces involved in the jobs that she has outlined, and the fact that the existence of a hub, with most of those elements together in one place, will stimulate innovation and great healthcare outcomes?

[Ashley Dalton]

I can assure my hon. Friend, and the House, that all considerations will be taken into account when this decision is made. As I have said, the Government are thoroughly assessing options, including all those that have been raised. Two main options are under consideration: to rebuild and refurbish some facilities at Porton Down and its sister site at Colindale in north London, or to build an entirely new facility in Harlow, Essex. In either event, the staff working in the defence, science and technology laboratory at Porton Down will remain there, and even when a decision is made on those options, nothing will happen overnight. Complexity and rigorous scientific requirements mean that completion will take more than a decade, which is why we continue to invest in maintaining our current site and facilities at Porton Down, with £38.1 million allocated for capital investment in the recent spending review.

The Government are committed to ensuring that we retain the ability to carry out the vital functions of UKHSA Porton Down. Members, the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee have all advocated for an urgent decision, but identifying the right site that delivers on this mission, while ensuring best value for money, is a complex decision and one that we must get right. I can assure the House that extensive discussions are taking place between UKHSA, the Department of Health and Social Care and His Majesty’s Treasury to inform a decision, and I can confirm that this decision will be taken as part of the spending review, which will conclude next month.

Rare Cancers Bill

Lauren Sullivan Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 14th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)]

I am here today to support the Rare Cancers Bill, a vital piece of legislation introduced by our hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur). I begin by paying tribute to his father-in-law and all those who have shared their stories here today.

My hon. Friend’s story, like so many, is a stark reminder of how aggressive and under-researched cancers can be, leaving patients with little or no hope. It is assumed that rare cancers, as has been mentioned today, affect a low number of people, but that is not the case. Cancer Research UK says that rare and less common cancers account for 47% of all UK cancer diagnoses and 55% of all cancer-related deaths. Some 82% of rare cancer patients are never even consulted about joining a clinical trial. That means that while each individual rare cancer may affect relatively few people, together they make up almost half of cancer cases, yet the funding and research remain disproportionately low.

I will briefly mention Charlie Shrager, one of my constituents in Gravesham. Like so many, she is fighting cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer. It is a supposedly rare but devastating form of liver cancer, and there is rising incidence. In 2001, 2.9 out of 100,000 people were diagnosed with it. In 2018, it was 4.6. Some 79% of these patients are diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4, meaning that their likelihood of survival is limited. Histotripsy is a non-invasive treatment that uses sonic beam therapy. It is incredible. The problem is that we do not have a machine in the UK. They cost £10 million, and let us get one here, because for people facing this disease or pancreatic cancer, it is a lifesaver, and they desperately need it. As Charlie put it:

“I was lucky enough to afford treatment abroad, but I know many who aren’t. They don’t have that option. Why should their chances depend on their bank balance?”

We must recognise that “rare” does not mean “insignificant”. People across the UK are battling cancers that remain underfunded, under-researched and underserved by clinical trials, which is criminal. It is a pattern that is repeated again and again with bile duct cancer, glioblastoma, leiomyosarcoma—a rare soft tissue cancer that demands personalised medicine—pancreatic cancer and blood cancers. Each of these cancers devastates lives. We have discussed what the Bill can do: appoint a national specialty lead for rare cancers, review and improve the UK’s orphan drug regulations, and improve data sharing.

As a research scientist in biochemistry, I worked on neglected infectious diseases and came across the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative. It was launched 25 years ago to co-ordinate research outcomes, negotiate with big pharma and test drugs that have been developed for other neglected diseases, and it is now eliminating diseases across the globe. It can be done—we have the blueprint—so I urge the Minister to reach out to that initiative to see what we can learn and implement here.

For too long, rare and neglected cancers have meant a rare chance of survival, and that must change. Given the strength of feeling among everybody here, there is the will to bring about change. I look forward to seeing the Bill go forward, and to seeing that people are not left behind and that we find a cure for everybody.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lauren Sullivan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

This Government are prepared for winter and we are already standing up the operational response to winter pressures. On funding, the right hon. Gentleman was in government just before the general election. Is he saying that his Government did not provide enough funding for the NHS this winter? If not, why not? If he does accept that it is enough money, he will surely welcome the extra investment that the Chancellor is putting into the NHS from next year.

[Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)]

T2. What steps are Ministers taking to address the ongoing shortages of medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which have been going on for 18 months?

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

The Department has been working with suppliers of medicines used to treat ADHD to seek commitments from them to address the issues, expedite deliveries and boost supplies. We are working with NHS England to approve the modelling for industry and communications regarding ADHD medicine supply issues. We will continue to engage with industry to address the remaining issues as quickly as possible.

Mental Health Support

Lauren Sullivan Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Sojan Joseph) for securing this afternoon’s important debate.

As we know, one in four of us will deal with a mental health issue at some point in our lives. As is the case across the country, following the decade of under-investment that has just been referred to, my constituents in Gravesham are concerned about the difficulty of accessing the right support in good time, without waiting on waiting lists for years. We can all agree that mental health is just as important as physical health, and that the strain on the NHS at this moment in time is enormous. The system is very close to breaking point.

If the system is close to breaking, so are our young people. The lack of open access to universal provision was, I think, touched upon by the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans). It is about having a safe place to discuss mental wellbeing so that we prevent those people then needing further additional help.

In Gravesham, we are fortunate to have the Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund, a community interest company that aims to give direct access for counselling to young people in Gravesham. At the moment, there are no people on the waiting list, because they are being seen by dedicated counsellors. Based on national statistics, 1,200 young people in Gravesham between the ages of 13 and 19 are struggling with their mental health, but the fund has helped 271 young people since 2022.

I would like to place on the record my thanks to the fund for providing a space for young people’s issues to be heard. The fund was set up in memory of Elliott Holmes, who tragically took his own life in 2020 after suffering from mental illness for a number of years. After his passing, his family set up the fund to try to keep other young people from that path. I would like to thank them for that.

I know that this Government are committed to addressing the mental health crisis that we are facing, and I am pleased to see that the King’s Speech included specific mention of legislation, in the form of a mental health Bill. In particular, I would be pleased to hear what further things we can do to prevent this deepening, worsening crisis.