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Council fears scrapping PHE will affect £350m Harlow move

PHE Harlow campusPHE
The new £350m public health labs planned for Harlow

A council leader wants to "allay fears" that plans to scrap Public Health England (PHE) will not affect the move of its headquarters to Essex.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Tuesday that PHE will be replaced by the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP).

Demolition work has already begun at the site in Harlow in preparation for the move by 2025.

Harlow Council leader Mark Ingall said the Essex move is a "major priority".

"It's probably the most important development in Harlow since Harlow existed," he said. "But I want to allay people's fears.

"Whilst Public Health England may not continue to exist, the work still needs to be done, the premises still need to be found and Harlow still is in the best place to deliver for that."

PA Media A coronavirus testing centrePA Media
The new institute will bring together PHE and NHS Test and Trace

The government's health arm bought the 40-acre, former GlaxoSmithKline site for £25m in 2017, and is investing £350m in creating "world-class public health labs".

Under the plans for PHE's move, staff would be relocated from Porton Down in Wiltshire, PHE science facilities in Colindale - and its current headquarters in central London.

The intention is for a "single, integrated campus" on the growing London-Stansted-Cambridge life science corridor, alongside 37 other research facilities and 1,400 life science businesses.

'Important plank'

The new institute will respond to health threats including infectious diseases, pandemics and biological weapons.

It will merge the Covid response work of PHE, NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre in the "first step towards becoming a single organisation", the Department of Health and Social Care said.

Mr Ingall said: "Since January of this year there's a lot of demolition been taking place ready for the build and the final detailed planning application is pretty much due any moment now.

"It's actually formed an important plank in our local plan and our strategic development of the town for the next 20 to 30 years.

"It's massively, massively important but we can't see any reason why it wouldn't still be going ahead.

"It was ideally placed for Public Health England, it'll be ideally placed for the National Institute for Health Protection as well."

The institute has been approached for comment.