HUNDREDS of staff working for Public Health England in Colindale face being moved to Essex.

The Government announced in September it will spend £350m to create new “world class” labs in Harlow.

The plans include moving its Public Health England (PHE)  facilities from Wiltshire to the new site.

It has now been confirmed, following the Chancellor’s Spending Review today, that the Colindale site, where approximately 1,200 people work, will also be moved to Harlow.

Although no exact date has yet been given for the move, the Harlow site is expected to be fully completed by 2024, with the first facilities to be open by 2019.

Asked what the move meant for staff based in Colindale, a PHE spokesman said: “We are not closing down any of our existing functions as part of this move. 

“It is our intention and hope to take the majority of existing staff with us but we know that we will need to recruit new staff in the Harlow area as staff will retire and move onto other jobs over the next years.”

The review said more than £400m will be spent on the development, which will bring all the public health labs onto one campus.

PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie said: “We are delighted with today’s investment in our critical infrastructure which will ensure we have public health science facilities capable of meeting current and future needs for decades to come.

“The vision is for a world-class public health science hub where academia, public health services, research and commercial activities can interact and deliver leading-edge results.”

Unveiling the Harlow plans in September, Chancellor George Osborne said: “This investment is crucial for the future of research and innovation in public health.

 “I look forward to seeing the development of these world-class facilities and the important role they’ll play in keeping Britain safe.”

Criticising the proposals, Unite regional officer Dorothy Fogg said in September: “The move from Porton Down and Colindale will break-up decades of expertise and skills that the staff have built up.

“A significant risk is that a considerable time and money will be spent on training staff, who then choose to leave a public sector organisation for better-paid employment within the private sector."