By John Glen
With lockdown restrictions easing, it is encouraging to see more people gradually returning to Salisbury, and retailers reporting that footfall is starting to move in the right direction.
Adhering to mask-wearing in this area is generally good and consideration shown by the majority is emboldening more of us to get back to browsing and enjoying the city centre.
I was particularly pleased to see brisk bookings at restaurants in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme under which restaurants charge half price for meals and soft drinks from Monday to Wednesday and claim the difference back from the government.
Retail, hospitality and leisure are key to a thriving city centre but, of course, there is far more to the local economy.
At the time of writing, news was breaking of changes to structure and organisation of Public Health England – one of the anchors of Porton Down.
I am incredibly proud of the important contribution to the battle against COVID-19 made by the world-class minds working at PHE and I was pleased to see their service acknowledged by the Health Secretary.
But renaming the organisation and shifting its main focus to external threats, such as diseases rather than lifestyle and health education, is not a threat to the status of Porton Down. The proposal actually places even greater focus on the things that make Porton Down unique – expertise of the workforce, secure environment and cutting-edge science there.
I know that DSTL and PHE are excited by the synergies that already exist between what they do and open to exploring ever greater collaborative working with each other and with academic and research partners.
Porton Down is a significant local economic driver and I am working to see its reputation as a critically important bioscience hub secured for a long time to come. I speak to colleagues in government about it often and there is significant interest in giving it continued attention and investment to maximise the opportunities arising from the concentration of highly skilled individuals working both inside and outside the wire. I look forward to its future with enormous optimism.