UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation

Written evidence submitted by the
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)
(UKCMRI 00)

The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) will be a world-class centre for biomedical research, located in the London Borough of Camden. UKCMRI will be an independent institute funded by the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and University College London. The funding partners, and separately UKCMRI, will also be submitting a memorandum to the Select Committee.

1. Review the progress on the UKCMRI since 2008 and assess the plans for the coming years.

1.1. Substantial progress has been made since 2008 on setting up the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI). The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) gave the MRC permission to sign the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) to establish UKCMRI. This decision was taken following detailed discussions with the Medical Research Council (MRC) on the content of the documents and BIS and HM Treasury scrutiny of the JVA. In view of the revised public funding arrangements for the project (detailed below), the Department of Health also gave its consent for MRC to sign the agreement. The JVA was signed by the chief executives of the four partners and Sir David Cooksey (as Chair of the UKCMRI Steering Group) in the presence of The Rt Hon David Willetts M.P. Minister for Universities and Science, and Earl Howe on 9 November 2010.

1.2. The JVA limits the maximum commitments of the founders to UKCMRI construction costs. A commitment by MRC to fund its share of construction costs requires approval by BIS and HM Treasury Ministers of the MRC’s Final Business Case. BIS expects to receive the Final Business Case in January 2011.

1.3. The UKCMRI project has been reviewed on three occasions by the Office of Government Commerce since 2008.

1.3.1. The OGC Major Projects Review Group (MPRG) reviewed the project in May 2009; the principal issues raised during this review concerned the degree of protection of the public interest in the then project arrangements and have been addressed by the JVA.

1.3.2. A second MPRG review was carried out in March and April 2010. This highlighted issues about cost and risk management. These have now been addressed.

1.3.3. The Office for Government Commerce (OGC) undertook another review as part of its Major Projects Assessment Review across government in July 2010. This review specifically examined the potential for cost savings of major projects, providing information to the Spending Review process. In summary, this review gave a delivery confidence assessment of "amber-green" to UKCMRI. The review concluded that there were no viable options for significant cost savings and did not recommend cancellation or relocation.

1.4. Government approval was given for purchase of the 3.5 acre site for UKCMRI on Brill Place, adjacent to the British Library. The sale was completed on 13 June 2008. The land was purchased from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for £85m, of which £46.75m was provided by MRC. The JVA states that the Founders will remain as freeholders of the land and buildings, which will be leased to UKCMRI.

1.5. A Construction Project Board has been established (comprising three representatives of UKCMRI and one from each founder); this supports the Executive Team of UKCMRI in the day-to-day management of the construction. The board meets monthly. An observer from BIS attends this board.

2. What do the four partners hope to achieve from the project and what new technologies and innovations are being considered?

2.1. A detailed vision for research at UKCMRI has been set out in their Scientific Vision and Research Strategy document. This will be covered in more detail in submissions from UKCMRI and the founding partners.

2.2. Government provision of funding to MRC for UKCMRI is on the basis that:

2.2.1. It will be one of the most significant developments in UK biomedical science for a generation.

2.2.2. Its goal will be to understand the biology underlying human health, finding ways to prevent and treat the most significant diseases affecting people today.

2.2.3. By enabling interactions between physical, biomedical and clinical scientists, UKCMRI will play a key role in ensuring that advances in biomedical sciences are translated swiftly and effectively into benefits for patients in the NHS.

2.2.4. By fostering collaboration with other centres of excellence, UKCMRI will harness the full capacity of this country’s brightest and best researchers for the benefit of patients and the economy.

3. Is the financing of the UKCMRI robust and justified, with particular reference to the public support for the project and the knock-on effect on budgets for other research?

3.1. As part of the spending review in October 2010, £220m of funding was announced for the construction of UKCMRI, to come from the Department for Health. The spending review announcement represents the MRC’s expected share of capital spend on UKCMRI construction in the four years of the spending review period, with the remainder of the capital falling in the next spending review period being provided by BIS.

3.2. Government funding for the MRC contribution to UKCMRI remains subject to approval of the MRC Full Business Case. This Business Case will be subject to robust scrutiny and approval will be dependent on planning permission for UKCMRI being granted. BIS and HMT expect a submission of a draft of the Full Business Case from MRC in January, with a decision on the final Full Business Case in Spring 2011, subject to passing through the scrutiny process and a positive decision on planning.

3.3. In addition to the construction costs, MRC will need to fund the costs of the transition from NIMR to UKCMRI. These costs include moving equipment and any staff redundancies that result from the transition.

3.4. MRC expect to provide funding additional to the £220m from the Department of Health from their resource and capital budgets, from commercial income and from sale of the Mill Hill and National Temperance Hospital sites.

3.5. The MRC expects to provide ongoing funding for UKCMRI at the same level as it presently provides for NIMR (£42m p.a.).

4. What are the risk assessment arrangements to ensure the safety of the site?

4.1. As stated in the Government response to the 2008 House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee inquiry into Biosecurity in UK Research Laboratories, there is no reason in principle why bioscience laboratories should not be built in urban areas. It is, however, essential that whatever the location, the facilities must have robust security measures in place that are appropriate to the location.

4.2. UKCMRI will provide detail on these security measures to the select committee.

5. What are the arrangements for the closure of the existing National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill?

5.1. The MRC will provide information on arrangements for closure of NIMR.

Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)

18 January 2011