Corporate report

UKHSA Advisory Board: Science Hub

Updated 11 September 2025

1. Purpose of the paper

The purpose of the paper is to update on Harlow Programme.

2. Recommendations

The Advisory Board is asked to note this update.

3. Introduction

On July 17, 2025, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced during a visit to the Harlow site with Minister Dalton and the MP for Harlow that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be moving its scientific facilities currently based at Porton Down and Colindale and its corporate headquarters in Canary Wharf to a new site in Harlow. Alongside the Ministerial visit and announcement, the Executive Committee briefed staff at Porton Down, Colindale and Canary Wharf.

This is a significant milestone. While UKHSA has previously set out its intention to move to Harlow, the programme has had previous challenges around securing both ministerial and organisational support. This announcement – constituting a multi-billion-pound investment in the Agency with a quarter of a billion pounds to be spent in this Parliament by 2030 – breaks the impasse and provides certainty on the way forward. The purpose of this paper is to set out the opportunities this programme presents, alongside the risks. It will then cover the delivery plan, alongside the key milestones on the timeline.

4. Moving to Harlow

As noted above, there are three sites in scope of the move which between them employ nearly 3,000 staff, and almost all of them will be in scope to move to Harlow (a small number will remain in the local area if they work in a regionally-defined role, for example). This move therefore affects approximately half of all UKHSA staff.

For this reason, the move to Harlow is a significant infrastructure programme and  a major change programme for the Agency involving a significant corporate transition. While this change is sizeable, the Agency considers it the most cost-effective and timeliest option compared to refurbishing existing sites without disrupting work. The scale of the programme means it is on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

5. Opportunities

This multi-billion-pound investment is a sizeable vote of confidence in UKHSA’s scientific work and within it, its contribution to pandemic preparedness and wider health security threats. For UKHSA itself, it gives the Agency the ability to co-locate three sites that are currently in separate parts of the country. This will help with economies of scale and having all the organisation’s scientists together in one place, supported by the corporate functions also on site, which will drive productivity, research outputs and scientific innovation.

In addition, UKHSA’s presence in Harlow will act as a hub for innovation. UKHSA does not intend to fill the whole site; there will be opportunities to co-locate with other government departments, academia and industry. These partnerships will help to position the Harlow site as a global centre for scientific excellence, drawing upon the existing science footprint in the region that grows every year.  We are due to discuss these opportunities at the UK Innovation Corridor Board on 21 October.

6. Risks

As with any programme of this scale and complexity, there are significant risks that UKHSA will need to mitigate over the coming years. Scaling down – and eventually closing – Porton Down and Colindale will be a major challenge. Work cannot completely stop at these sites until Harlow is fully validated. A period of dual running will be required while the Agency moves staff from multiple sites into Harlow. This is a logistical challenge and given the importance of the Agency’s work for public health, it is imperative that there is no gap of operation or reduced capacity to respond to an emergency that may strike at any time.

To mitigate this risk, the Harlow Programme Team has put in place a programme plan (covered from paragraph 7.1 in more detail) with a robust timeline and suitable contingency. It is also assessing the site design with external support to ensure it will deliver what the Agency needs. It is also engaging across government with key departments to ensure the risks are widely understood and to secure support and expertise to tackle them.

It must also be noted that the Agency must engage staff effectively at the three sites. UKHSA employs some of the leading scientists in the country and retaining their services is a critical priority. While the move is some time away, UKHSA currently employs scientists who will be the leaders of the future and helping them to re-locate and convincing them of the opportunities that Harlow presents for their careers will be vital.

The Programme Team is working extensively with the People and Workplace Group within UKHSA to establish a full plan for engaging staff on the move. This will cover – at the appropriate time – agreeing policies with regards to relocation costs and other critical transition support elements to ensure that the Agency can present a robust proposal to its staff which offers them suitable advice and practical support, while noting the move remains over a decade away.

7. The Delivery Plan

In advance of the decision to go to Harlow, the Programme Team developed a full programme timeline and critical path– this covers the key actions the Agency needs to take to ensure that Harlow is delivered to time and budget learning the many lessons on timelines and costs since the Programme began over 10 years ago. This is critical to build confidence in the programme – not only for UKHSA’s staff, but for potential partners on site when it opens.

The infrastructure delivery plan is split into three pillars, as follows:

• Pillar 1 - secure Harlow remobilisation partners – this work is ongoing, and has involved to date bringing in commercial advisors, cost consultants, project management and business case support.
• Pillar 2 - procuring long term delivery partners (design assurance, project management and cost management). This will take place following the approval of the Programme Business Case.
• Pillar 3 - two Tier 1 construction contractors which will also take place following approval of the Programme Business Case (H50 – the highest containment building – and the rest of the site)

Since the announcement on July 17, UKHSA has already secured agreement with DHSC for four separate Pillar 1 Professional Services Business Cases, bringing in expert support to enable the swift remobilisation of the programme.

To unlock Pillars 2 and 3, UKHSA intends to secure approval of its Programme Business Case by the summer of 2026 to enable the appointment of important contractors for the main high-containment building, start procurement of Tier 1 contractor for the rest of the site and also the Pillar 2 long term partners.

The current timeline for the programme would have the first staff moving to Harlow in the mid-2030s with the full move delivered by 2038.

8. Next Steps

The Programme Team will continue to work on the key pillars listed above alongside the Programme Business Case. To support this work, the team will scale up significantly with recruitment underway.

Further updates will be provided to the Advisory Board over the coming year, noting the strategic importance of the programme to the Agency.