Councils fight for jobs at Porton Down (South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats)

South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats <info@swwiltshirelibdems.org.uk>

Councils fight for jobs at Porton Down

July 26, 2010 8:39 AM

Salisbury City council has joined Wiltshire Council in the fight to save local jobs at Porton Down.

Cllr Paul Sample got city councillors to support him in a motion to back the campaign to keep the 'Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response' in South Wiltshire.

Paul said councillors should write to the government stressing the CEPR's role in providing jobs, both directly and indirectly, for the area, and the effect its removal would have on the local economy. "It would uproot good scientists and their families from their homes in the city and South Wiltshire," he said.

Porton Down is currently the site for the Health Protection Agency's "Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response" at which internationally significant research into new diseases is undertaken. The total site covers 27 hectares with employment of 750 scientific, technical and administrative staff. The value to the economy is demonstrated by the fact that the direct impact of the employment of scientific/technical staff is estimated at over £70,000 per head (GWE Business West Ltd.).

Wiltshire Council (WC) has been working with HPA who are putting together an outline business case for developing a new Centre of Excellence for research and bio-medical manufacturing known as the Chrysalis Programme. This is a £300 million project to develop the UK's capacity for high containment laboratories and to replace ageing facilities on the existing site and provide new training facilities.

The first phase of this project (training & skills facility) has a planning application submitted and the project cost of £5m was to be supported by a £1m grant via the South West Regional Development Agency.

The outline business case (OBC) is due to be submitted to the Department of Health. Linked to this project, WC has been working to bring forward a proposal for a new science park which has already gained outline planning consent.

However it has now been revealed that HPA is considering an alternative option for the Centre of Excellence project in East Hertfordshire near Harlow.

According to a contributor the HPA is considering one of GSK's laboratories in Harlow as an alternative to Porton Down. GSK have announced the closure of this facility and are hoping that HPA will take it over.

A decision to locate the Centre of Excellence in Hertfordshire would have a serious impact on the South Wiltshire economy, in that it would undermine plans for the development of a bio-medical cluster around Porton Down and would result in the relocation of all HPA posts by 2015.

Salisbury's former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate, Nick Radford, said losing such an important employer would be "a devastating blow to South Wiltshire's economy" and employees "must be reeling".

He said: "Hundreds of local people rely on the HPA site to earn their living, and I will stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they fight to keep their jobs here in Salisbury.

"The Secretary of State for Health must intervene quickly to stop this relocation."

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A Freedom of Information request from Salisbury councillor Paul Sample has been turned down by the government - see http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/8292662.Government_refuses_Porton_Down_request/?ref=eb