---
title: "Porton Down gets £580m to fight 'biological threats'"
description: "CBRNe World provides those tasked with defending against CBRN and IED threats with the essential practical, scientific and political information. Access the current and previous issues of the magazine by registering as a member."
url: "https://cbrneworld.com/news/porton-down-gets-gbp580m-to-fight-biological-threats"
date: "2026-08-20T12:34:24+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  Porton Down gets £580m to fight 'biological threats'

 [Zoe Rutherford](#)

Author

30 June 2026

Originally published by BBC News.

More than half a billion pounds will be invested in a new biological defence laboratory at a UK base.

The Government has announced it will create the £580m start-of-the-art facility at Porton Down, home to the Government's Defence, Science and Technology Labs, near Amesbury in Wiltshire.

The funding is part of the Government's long-delayed Defence Investment Plan, which is due to be published in full on Tuesday.

Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said: "The £580 million investment will create the facilities needed at Porton Down to expand their vital work, delivering for our armed forces and our national security."

The funding for the new laboratory at Porton Down will be delivered over four years and the government said it will help expand expert UK scientists' work "on biological warfare threats". It will be named after former British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, one of founders of NATO.

Jarvis added: "Our scientists and experts working at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory \[Dstl\] do so much, often unseen, to keep our country and our allies safe at this increasingly dangerous and unpredictable time."

Paul Hollinshead, Dstl chief executive, said: "This investment reinforces the essential work delivered daily by Dstl to protect the UK Armed Forces and defend the nation.

"As part of a broader infrastructure programme at Dstl, this new laboratory will strengthen our capacity to stay ahead of evolving biological threats and maintain the UK's leading edge in defence and security."

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