Business case for renewal of MRC’s NIMR
Statement issued following MRC Council meeting on 11 October 2006
The Council reviewed the assumptions and progress in preparation of the NIMR Renewal Business Case for Government. Council took note of very recent information both from quantity surveyors who are now forecasting increased cost estimates for the proposed new building supported by Council when it considered the original Business Plan in 2005; and from the Gateway Review Team*which had highlighted the need for an increased focus on the major business change elements of the project.
The Council reaffirmed its publicly stated policy of co-locating and integrating intra-mural support with major research intensive universities/medical schools. As maintaining investment at Mill Hill is not consistent with this policy, the Council agreed unanimously that options involving continuation of the NIMR at Mill Hill will not be considered further.
Council noted that key new senior figures had become engaged only recently. Sir Keith Peters was now in post as interim acting director of NIMR, and a director-designate had been identified through international search whom it was hoped would confirm acceptance of the directorship of the renewed institute once funding was agreed. Council agreed to reconfigure its Steering Group to include their vital input to developing a more detailed and up-to-date vision for the renewed institute on the Bloomsbury Campus. Input from UCL will also be crucial to the Steering Group. Within the broader context of MRC’s publicly stated commitment to translational approaches in research, the new Steering Group will develop the following
- A more detailed vision of the unique and distinctive national translational focus and identity of the renewed institute as a world-class centre
- Strategies for defining the critical mass necessary to deliver that vision in terms of both research and training on the Bloomsbury Campus
- Cost-effective change management and governance strategies designed to build on the high-quality basic science approaches at Mill Hill and to enable them to flourish in a broader inter-disciplinary environment of research in engineering, chemistry, physics, mathematics and social science as well as academic medicine
The Steering Group will continue to provide direction for completion of the Business Case, working within clear financial parameters. There will be no significant increase in the final total annual resource cost of the renewed institute above the current level. The total capital investment in the new facility should not require a greater resource investment than at present.
The Council agreed that the option that eventually goes forward as its preferred one must be compared objectively and assessed formally in value for money terms with alternative options involving lower levels of investment and/or locations of all or part of NIMR outside London.
The Council’s expectation is that the Business Case will be finalised before the end of January. Council asked that, working through Keith Peters, every effort should be made to sustain communication with staff at NIMR during this period and beyond.
*Gateway Review, operated by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), requires independent examination of all major acquisition programmes and procurement projects in the public sector
