Corporate report

UKHSA Advisory Board: Transforming Science Together

Updated 12 May 2025

1. 1. Purpose of this Paper

This paper provides the Advisory Board with oversight of the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Group’s modernisation programme, Transforming Science Together (TST).

2. 2. Recommendations

The UKHSA Advisory Board is asked to note the progress made to establish this key transformation programme and the associated governance.

The UKHSA Advisory Board is invited to comment on opportunities, key risks and challenges to the programme.

3. 3. Context

The Transforming Science Together Programme (TST) sets out to modernise our scientific functions and capabilities through three core workstreams:

• Transforming Scientific Services: Enhancing efficiency, performance, and sustainability in laboratory and other scientific functions.
• Technology & Data: Modernising technology, introducing automation and artificial intelligence (AI), improving data utilisation, and streamlining digital workflows.
• Modernising the Scientific Estate: Addressing capacity constraints, estate maintenance, and long-term investment planning.

4. 4. Vision and Aims

The vision for Modernisation is based on Ambition, Resilience and Transformation.

The programme design principles are to eliminate inefficiency, harness innovation, enhance optimisation and enhance collaboration.

The benefits are to deliver better health and prosperity outcomes and reduce risk.

The Programme benefits are to provide a clearer vision for the future of our scientific facilities and laboratories, increase efficiency, move from reactive to strategic capital investment, ensure focus on higher value (health and economic) activities, Digital and integrated functions and services and more motivated and valued workforce working as one team

5. 5. Programme Objectives & Target Outcomes

The Transforming Science Together (TST) programme aims to deliver measurable, lasting improvements in the way UKHSA delivers scientific services. Key objectives and target outcomes include:

• modern, resilient scientific infrastructure that supports rapid, scalable response to health threats.
• operational and workforce efficiency, with measurable improvements in turnaround times, equipmentai utilisation, and workforce productivity.
• digital and data-led transformation, including automation, AI integration, and end-to-end IT workflows.
• workforce development and retention, through improved staff experience and the delivery of the Talent for Science strategy.
• enhanced public health impact, enabling better surveillance, faster diagnostics, and improved equity in access to scientific services.

6. 6. Main Opportunities

While the programme faces real challenges, it also presents transformational opportunities:

• unlocking the potential of scientific data to improve public health outcomes using advanced analytics and AI.
• fostering innovation and collaboration with academia, NHS and industry to drive co-development of new technologies.
• creating a motivated, expert scientific workforce via targeted investment in recruitment, retention, and upskilling.
• enabling equitable diagnostics and service access across the population through modern lab networks and faster turnaround.
• strengthening the UK’s global leadership in life sciences by setting a new standard for lab and data infrastructure.

Exco receives quarterly progress updates to oversee delivery against plan.

7. 7. Main Progress:

A UKHSA wide Steering Group was established in December 2024 to oversee the development of delivery plans and implementation of programme structure and governance.

A programme lead and three project managers for each workstream are in post.

A small number of priority projects are underway, including a laboratory network data project and initial performance tracking. Alongside these, each workstream is undertaking targeted discovery work to uncover systemic issues and define the scale of opportunity. This includes:

• a Clinical Risk Review identifying 52 public health and workforce-related risks across our laboratories.
• a comprehensive Public Health Microbiology Review to assess lab network models, best practices, and efficiency opportunities.
• a Reference Microbiology Review to define future testing priorities in line with public health needs and funding.
• the Talent for Science Strategy, addressing workforce recruitment, retention and morale.
• development of site-specific capital investment plans to improve effectiveness and long-term value.

Findings from these discovery activities will inform the full business case and define the programme’s future delivery priorities

A Communications & Engagement Group is live, with resource in place to facilitate and capture opportunities and ideas for change and innovation.

Internal communications plans have been agreed in collaboration with UKHSA Comms colleagues, including the launch of the ‘Staff Innovation Scheme’, which is planned for May 2025.

UKHSA wide communications outlining the core objectives of TST were published on 7 January 2025.

The Government Internal Audit Agency has commenced an in-flight audit of the programme structure and governance to ensure robust and effective arrangements, which the programme team is fully supporting.

8. 8. Impact on Strategic Priorities

This programme directly supports the delivery of the UKHSA Science Strategy by improving scientific service delivery, operational efficiency, and modernisation.

This programme indirectly drives health equity by improving access to diagnostics, enhancing data capabilities, and modernising laboratory estates, ensuring faster, more efficient, and equitable scientific services.

At the direction of the Executive Committee (ExCo), work to articulate the strategic vision for the programme is underway.

9. 9. Accountability and Governance

The Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) is accountable for the overall delivery of the programme, with the CSO Directors, including the programme Senior Responsible Officer supporting through prioritising resource to delivery project level activity.

The TST Steering Group provides oversight and strategic direction.  Monthly meetings chaired by the CSO oversee programme decisions with escalations to ExCo as required.

Regular workstream updates are incorporated into the Steering Group meetings ensure alignment and timely interventions.

The programme is following a structured process from Idea to Business Case, ensuring all proposed initiatives undergo formal governance and prioritisation.

10. 10. Main Programme Risks and Challenges

Risk	Assessment & Mitigations
Budget Allocation	RDEL (High Impact) The programme budget supports a core team of 4 FTE (full-time equivalent).  The team has utilised the redeployment unit to help address immediate project management needs. Front line and operational resources are relied upon to oversee individual project deliveries. This can manifest in reduced capability to implement change and a slower pace of change.  Funding will ultimately be needed via a programme business case with the current approach to be based on invest to save.
	CDEL (Lower Impact) Implementation of the Priority Assessment Matrix, regular funding allocation reviews, and engagement with external funding sources is in place.  Investment choices can be made based on prioritisation.  Possible impact emerging due to likely asbestos remediation needed at Porton Down.
Business Case Support	The funding pathway being followed will rely on change being funded by savings.  This will still require up-front funding to ultimately self-finance.  There is a current need to fund a business case manager to support development of the business case.
Cross-Agency Support	Ensuring all teams within UKHSA engage and provide resource to support delivery of TST priorities.  This is achieved at a high level via regular updates to Exco.  Competing challenges at an operational level could reduce the speed at which we might be able to deliver high priority change.  An example is cyber security requirements to link data flows and third-party systems.
Competing Priorities	Currently an issue.  With a limited pool of resource, the emergence of new UKHSA priorities can slow or pause the current phase of discovery.  The requirement to implement increased in-house PCR capacity to provide enhanced rapid response to emerging pathogens is utilising 2 FTE from the programme team for a temporary period.

11. 11. Next steps

The staff innovation and suggestion scheme will be launched shortly, together with the process to support sifting and prioritisation of ideas. This will ensure working level co-ordination of all potential new ideas with in-flight projects.

Ongoing stakeholder engagement via workshops, innovation forums, and programme updates continue, together with a range of discovery activities to identify and prioritise transformation opportunities.

Project plans for in-flight delivery are regularly tracked to ensure delivery is to plan.

Wave 1 prioritised unfunded projects will be progressed through governance to business case.  There is a dependency on identifying a business case manager to support.

Marc Merel

Director, Scientific Facilities and Performance