A policy shift for Life Sciences at last, but are we ready for the next pandemic?

Ollie Collins 20 Aug 2024

Within a few days of the General Election being called, Lord Patrick Vallance, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, declared that another pandemic was “absolutely inevitable” warning that “we are not ready yet” [1]. Interestingly, Vallance has now been appointed Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation in the new Government and within a week of his appointment announced that the UK science and technology sectors were “open for business” at the G7 Science and Technology Ministerial in Italy [2].

Lord Vallance’s seer-like skills have quickly been borne out with the first case of a contagious new form of the mpox virus being reported in Sweden. The World Health Organisation (WHO) subsequently have declared a global public health emergency, with the clade 1b form of the disease already killing more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [3].

So how can planning contribute to this evident need to step-up Life Sciences research? Helpfully, a policy shift in favour of Life Sciences can at last be seen in the new Government’s policy and planning agenda. Labour has identified these changes to facilitate a wider ‘kick-start’ of the economy and to boost the UK’s economic growth in the long-term.

Image credit: Bioscience Catalyst © Alamy

This has been reflected in the Government’s recent proposed reforms to national planning policy which recognises that access to laboratory space is crucial for the sector’s research and development and would allow the UK to stay at the “cutting edge of research-intensive sectors such as the life sciences” [4]. The draft NPPF consultation suggests changes to policy including Local Plan development which would make it easier to build labs alongside other developments which would support the modern economy, as noted:

“Appropriate sites for commercial development which meet the needs of a modern economy should be identified, including suitable locations for uses such as laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, digital infrastructure, freight and logistics” (our emphasis) [5].

In addition to the above, the Government are consulting on expanding the National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) consenting regime to categorise data centres, gigafactories and laboratories as business and commercial NSIPs. This could essentially enable Life Science proposals to benefit from the advantages of the DCO consenting process, with greater weight likely to be applied to the value of the sector in any decision.

It remains to be seen what type and scale of life science development would qualify for consenting under the NSIP regime, and whether this alternative approach proves attractive to the sector.

Whilst there has been support from key stakeholders within the wider science industry for these proposed changes, it is evident that there remains an urgent need for an increased supply in new life science spaces to keep up with demand for laboratory space. Recent significant approvals and updates to life sciences developments across the UK, include:

Stevenage Bioscience Campus including Bioscience Catalyst and Cell Therapy Building [6]
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’ facility, Billingham [7]
Newcastle Helix/Science Central, Newcastle [8]
British Land’s 1 Triton Square [9]
Elevate Quarter Life Science Campus, Stevenage [10]
Paddington Life Sciences Innovation Cluster within the Imperial WestTech Corridor [11]
Delancey’s Life Sciences and technology-focused building at Kings Cross [12]
hVIVO Clinical Trial Facility and Canary Wharf Group & Kadans Science Partner’s Life Sciences buildings in Canary Wharf [13]
Crown Estate’s Former Debenhams Store, Oxford [14]
AstraZeneca’s £650 million investment at Speke and Cambridge sites[15]

Image credit: Science Central © FaulknerBrowns Architects

Looking forward, with support for life sciences as a sector at the forefront of the new Government’s agenda to stimulate growth, it will be interesting to see if more R&D and Life Science schemes come through the planning process unscathed.

Time will also tell if the Government will be able to continue to support this fast-moving sector beyond its positive amendments to policy, given other funding priorities. The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is believed to be considering reducing the government support by over £20 million in the AstraZeneca Speke vaccine manufacturing proposal as part of a wider review of public finances, with some suggesting that AstraZeneca may relocate the project to France [16].

Nonetheless, the question remains: will the introduction of clearer policy support for the sector help to make us more resilient in terms of preparing for the next pandemic. Despite a promising start and key funding announcements [17] the Conservatives were unable to make substantive progress. Through a greater coordination of policy and national strategies, will Labour ensure that these type of developments can be supported and fast-tracked to allow for development to work towards strengthening our resilience against Covid and other infectious diseases? We, alongside our clients in the sector, will be watching closely…

Lichfields are well placed to advise on Life Sciences developments through our various experience and significant contacts in the industry. We would be happy to discuss future projects within this emerging sector for anyone that is interested and please contact us for more information.