Forensic science strategy vague and incoherent, MPs say

The government plan for the future of forensic science in England and Wales is vague and incoherent, MPs have said.

The Forensic Science Strategy, which aims to set up a new system to oversee how the criminal justice system deals with samples from crime scenes, victims and suspects, was published in March after claims standards were slipping.

But the Science and Technology Committee says it should be redrafted.

A Home Office spokesman insisted the strategy did provide a "clear vision".

'Inadequate'

The government-owned Forensic Science Service was closed down in 2012, with much of its work taken on by private companies which had to bid for contracts.

In 2015 the National Audit Office warned standards were slipping and in March the Home Office published its Forensic Science Strategy.

However, the Science and Technology Committee says the document seems more like "a plan to produce a strategy", adding the government should admit the document "leaves too many issues under-developed" and fails to properly explain its policy and direction.

Acting committee chairwoman Conservative MP Tania Mathias said although the government's strategy was published two years late, "further delay would have been preferable to this inadequate document".

Dr Mathias said: "The weaknesses in this document raise the question of whether the Forensics Strategy stands up as a strategy. It is missing a coherent vision for forensic services and a route-map to deliver it."

Other criticisms the MPs made of the strategy include:

• It is "vague" about how plans for police to secure forensic services from private contractors, on a local level, will deliver a consistent national approach

• There was an "evident failure to consult widely on the strategy" before it was published

• There is a lack of detail about a potential joint biometrics and forensics service, which "risks being taken forward" before the biometrics strategy is published

• There is still a "pressing requirement" for more research into the quality of forensic science and its role in the criminal justice system

The committee concluded that the government should publish a redrafted strategy after the Biometrics Strategy is released and police scoping work is completed.

'Extensive consultation'

A Home Office spokesman disputed the committee's findings.

"We are confident that the Forensic Strategy, which was drafted after extensive consultation with experts, represents the best way for policing to develop an effective approach to procurement," he said.

"The strategy sets out a clear vision for the future of forensic service provision, but it is equally clear that it must be designed and delivered by policing.

"It has been designed specifically in order to sit alongside and complement the biometrics strategy and the two were developed in parallel."