HC Deb 22 July 2004 vol 424 cc580-2W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes in(a) Merseyside, (b) Lancashire, (c) Cheshire, (d) Cumbria and (e) Greater Manchester have involved (i) the Forensic Science Service and (ii) a private company in their solution in each of the last 12 months. [181674]

Caroline Flint

From the data recorded by these police forces it is not possible to identify how many crimes involved use of forensic science in their solution. The best indicator of the relative use of (i) the Forensic Science Service (FSS) and (ii) private sector forensic science providers is the number of submissions made by the five named forces to each of these within the last 12 months.

(a) For Merseyside police forensic submissions during the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 were as follows:

Forensic provider
(i) FSS (ii) Private companies
April 69 344
May 65 418
June 96 377
July 93 367
August 73 376
September 100 391
October 96 311
November 77 318
December 64 252
January 77 311
February 73 268
March 60 289

Differences in the level of detail to which data on submissions for forensic analysis is recorded by police forces prevents similar presentation of figures for the remaining forces. The data recorded by these forces indicate:

(b) For Lancashire Constabulary forensic submissions during the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 were as follows:

Number
April 419
May 342
June 398
July 389
August 389
September 355
October 355
November 359
December 372
January 421
February 371
March 432

Lancashire Constabulary was unable to report how many of these submissions were made to(i) the Forensic Science Service (FSS) and (ii) private sector forensic science providers.

(c) For Cheshire Constabulary forensic submissions during the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 were as follows:

(i) FSS: 525

(ii) Private companies: 609.

Cheshire Constabulary was unable to provide a monthly breakdown of these figures.

(d) For Cumbria Constabulary the number of submission for DNA analysis reflects is related to the level of volume crime, the predominant category of crime in Cumbria. These submissions were all made to the FSS:

Number
April 26
May 28
June 37
July 20
August 18
September 41
October 30
November 11
December 17
January 18
February 23
March 32

(e) For Greater Manchester Police forensic submissions during the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 were as follows:

(i) FSS: 8,392

(ii) Private companies: 135.

GMP was unable to provide a monthly breakdown of these figures.