§ Lord HOUGHTON of SOWER BYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any research establishment near Salisbury now or formerly used by the Ministry of Defence has been taken over by the Department of Health and Social Security and, if so, its location and future purpose.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLIt is proposed that the Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton, at present part of the Ministry of Defence, should be managed as a civil establishment by the Public Health Laboratory Service Board from 1st April 1979. It will then become known as the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, and a health orientation will be given to its programme of work in microbiology and work which can suitably be carried on in conjunction with microbiology. The Public Health Laboratory Service Bill, designed to permit the transfer of management responsibility, received its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 30th November.