HC Deb 18 December 2001 vol 377 cc238-9W
Mr. Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total funding by his Department for the national forensic laboratories in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [12041]

Angela Eagle

The Department does not subsidise the Home Office Forensic Science Service in England and Wales. Their income is generated through the services they provide to police forces, the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service and the other law enforcement agencies in England and Wales.

The Forensic Science Service receives short-term loans from the Home Office, which are repaid within the same financial year. The Forensic Science Service has received the following aggregate short-term loans:

  • 1999–2000: £5.8 million
  • 2000–01: £2.5 million
  • 2001–02: £4.5 million.

They also have a long-term trading fund loan of £17.92 million, which was made in March 2000 and is repayable over the next 25 years at commercial rates.