§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in the light of new regulations involving payment by the police forces for forensic services, he will consider establishing independent forensic units, along the lines of that based on Strathclyde university; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThere are no such regulations, but we have accepted the recommendations of the Select Committee on Home Affairs that the police should pay266W directly for the forensic science services they use. The establishment of forensic science units independent of the Government is a matter for private initiative, and the police would be free to use such units if they wished to do so.