Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on the future of (a) UKHSA Porton Down and (b) the single science hub at Harrow.

On 17 July 2025, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced that the Government will proceed with plans to develop new state-of-the-art scientific facilities at Harlow, Essex. The move to Harlow will only affect UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) staff and therefore anyone on the site employed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will be unaffected.

The Harlow site, with its proximity to the Oxford-Cambridge Investment Corridor, also represents a significant growth opportunity. Moving UKHSA facilities to the area will unlock opportunities for partnerships with industry and academia.

This process will not be immediate. We expect the new site at Harlow to open in stages, beginning in the mid-2030s and concluding by 2038, and therefore given the criticality of the work carried out at both Colindale and Porton Down, these two sites will remain open until that time. UKHSA staff will receive extensive support throughout the next decade on this transition.