The British government is to put Paul Drayson, the science minister, in charge of coordinating biosecurity issues, in a move aimed at improving the security of high containment labs in the UK.

The move was announced yesterday in the government’s response to a report from MPs which said they were “disturbed” that ministers have not met to discuss biosecurity issues, and that no government department has responsibility or oversight in the area.

The report from the MPs on the Innovation, Universities and Skills committee, published in June, says “we do not accept the view… that it is satisfactory for no minister to have overall responsibility for biosecurity.”

The MPs investigated the biosecurity of UK laboratories after a breach at the Institute of Animal Health in Pirbright was blamed on the 2007 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle.

The government also endorsed the MPs suggestion that a ministerial overview of biosecurity issues is needed. It plans to set up a ministerial group to consider such issues. Drayson will have responsibility for convening the group.

The government agreed to establish a regular forum made up of government departments and other public research funders that support high containment facilities. The group would consider the better use of facilities, and common approaches to security vetting of staff.

But the government said it would wait to set out the group’s terms of reference and agenda until a review of the UK’s high security labs being led by George Griffin, chairman of the Department of Health advisory committee on dangerous pathogens, reports later this month.

The government welcomed the MPs conclusion that there is “no reason in principle” that high containment laboratories should not be built in urban areas. A consortium, including the Medical Research Council, which allocates public funds for health research in the UK, and the Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity, is planning to build a high security lab in King’s Cross, Central London.

“Whatever the location, it is essential that the facilities have robust security measures in place and that they are appropriate to the location. Those measures must be sufficient to minimise hazards to health and the environment in the event of a breach,” the government’s response says.

Plans to redevelop high-security labs at the Porton Down military establishment near Salisbury in Wiltshire, were announced by the government last month. The revamp, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds, came in response to concerns expressed by the MPs in its report that the labs, which carry out work on highly infectious and deadly diseases, are run-down and in need of significant investment.