HC Deb 24 October 2001 vol 373 c277W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what correspondence he has received from Mr. Alan Bayle concerning his decision to resign from the Metropolitan Police Service; and what measures he has taken to address professional representations concerning training and supervision of the collection of forensic evidence. [8079]

Mr. Denham

My Department has not received any correspondence from Mr. Alan Bayle concerning his decision to resign from the Metropolitan Police Service.

In England and Wales, the collection of forensic evidence is the responsibility of Crime Scene Examiners and Assistant Crime Scheme Examiners, who are also responsible for forwarding such evidence to other departments or agencies as appropriate.

Training is provided in-force or at specialist centres such as the National Training Centre for Scientific Support in Durham, or the Metropolitan Police Service Scientific Support College.

Training and deployment are operational matters for individual chief constables and not ones in which it would be appropriate for Ministers to intervene.