HL Deb 17 July 2003 vol 651 cc167-8WA
Baroness Hilton of Eggardon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they plan to carry out a review of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). [HL4148]

Baroness Scotland of Asthal

An independent review of the Forensic Science Service was announced on 23 July 2002 by the Minister of State for Policing and Crime Reduction. The review has been overseen by a steering group which all key stakeholders were invited to join. The review team reported at the beginning of July this year.

The main thrust of the report focuses on the emergence of a more competitive market for forensic science services and the ability of the FSS to compete effectively in the face of a significantly changing environment. The report makes a number of helpful observations and recommendations aimed at improving FSS performance, but the most fundamental is that it should be transformed from a trading fund into a government-owned company as a precursor to development into a private sector classified public/private partnership (PPP).

The main risk if the FSS remains as a trading fund is that there would be a sustained and accelerating loss of business. Indeed, some forces are already outsourcing their forensic requirements to alternative suppliers. A cumulative loss of market share could reach a point at which poor trading forced cut-backs in investment, research and development and staffing. We see radical change as the only realistic option to ensure that FSS remains competitive and able to make best use of rapidly advancing science and technology to reduce crime and deliver safer communities.

The report identifies the inherent risks, but makes a clear case for accepting that PPP offers the best means of protecting the public interest and delivering major benefits to the criminal justice system (CJS) by enabling FSS to compete effectively.

We endorse this approach and the steering group's overall view that the FSS would prosper in a private sector environment, as it clearly reflects the realities of the situation. At a time when demand for forensic analysis in crime investigation is increasing significantly, FSS performance has been mixed. There have been some notable successes, but we need to take steps to improve the service to the wider CJS in terms of timeliness and cost-effectiveness. The emergence of a small but effective and dynamic private sector has resulted in an increasingly competitive market in forensic science services, the level and intensity of which is likely to gather pace.

We are confident that the proposed changes will stimulate and broaden the market, encouraging CJS customers to make even greater use of forensic science in the fight against crime, and generating momentum through improved investment to enable the increasingly effective use of forensic capabilities. This, in turn, will result in forensic science making a substantially greater contribution to crime reduction.

A number of significant logistical issues inevitably need to be addressed, but we believe that all of these challenges can be dealt with successfully in a transitional period as a government-owned company.

As the report contains commercially sensitive information, a copy of the executive summary has been placed in the Library.