Forensic Science Service

Written evidence submitted by John Haley (FSS 12)

What will be the impact of the closure of the Forensic Science Service on forensic science and on the future development of forensic science in the UK?

1. Without the Forensic Science Service in the market place driving things forward, the competitors to the FSS will be able to sit back and reduce spending on improvements. The only reason many of the competitors spent money on improvements in the first place was to gain market share from the FSS. Without a strong FSS leading the UK market, who will push things forward and give a semblance of sanity to a hectic market?

2. The FSS is respected the world over for its investment into new techniques and is not just driving the UK market, but also forensics throughout the world. This cannot be better demonstrated than the winning of the United Arab Emirates database project, the assistance in the database project at the NFI in Holland and the recent publishing of the worlds first fully automated miniaturised device. These projects just scratch the surface of a business that has been leading the way for more than 15 years.

3. I have worked in forensic research for over 10 years and know the importance of experience gained working directly with operational units in developing new techniques. The FSS is quite unique in the fact that all research is controlled in house and little to no help is given from external companies. Without FSS research, who will carry out the essential work required to move things forward? This work cannot be picked up by universities as it requires in depth knowledge of the day to day workings of a forensic laboratory and is not as simple as saying competitors will pick this up. Research is expensive and with prices in the market falling, there is no obvious group who can pick this up. Without a suitable replacement, the individuals who work in forensic research will leave the area and find other jobs, thereby paralysing forensic development in the UK for many years to come.

What will be the implications of the closure on the quality and impartiality of forensic evidence used in the criminal justice system?

4. With police in sourcing the likely beneficiary of the closure of the FSS, the movement of forensics back to the police will no doubt lead to more miscarriages of justice and mistakes will be made. You cannot expect a group such as the police to carry out work independently and deliver to the same quality as the FSS has over many years. We will see a repeat of mistakes past which led to bodies such as the Metropolitan laboratory in London joining the FSS.

5. The FSS has never declined any work from police forces in the past and has never put a monetary value on complex cases and any sector of the criminal justice system. FSS competitors have already shown their true colours in recent tenders by actively pursuing the cash cow products and either not tendering for or pricing themselves out of the market for the more complex examinations. It is sad to consider that the criminal justice system will find itself cap in hand trying to make private companies deliver work that is delivered without any questions by the FSS.

6. With so few companies in the market, a lot of start up companies could appear. This could mean many police forces putting their trust in untested companies just so they can get their work completed in what is taken as standard right now. The FSS and several of the competitors have a proven track record, but with pressures to deliver the work without a group such as the FSS around to pick up the slack, the quality in the sector will undoubtedly fall.

What is the financial position of the Forensic Science Service?

7. The FSS has been losing around £2m a month. A lot of this loss can be put down to a massive re-structuring process whereby redundancy payments and site closures have led to considerable costs. The main issue for the FSS is not where it sits right now, but where it could be in less than a year after the site closures have occurred and the staff numbers make the organisation a far leaner company. If the transformation process was allowed to continue, and in some forms re-shaped to make further improvements, there is no reason why the FSS could back into the black.

8. Forensic research is expensive and such things cannot be expected to always break even in a discipline where the final outcomes can have a huge impact on the criminal justice system. That said, after the transformation process the FSS has created some brilliant products that will not only push forensics across the world forward and also reap the benefits when sold outside the UK.

9. There are many products outside DNA such as fire investigation, documents etc that can actually cost more to investigate than revenue generated, The FSS has balanced this for many years using the cash rich areas such as DNA to do this. The DNA market has been eroded by competitors and the new market place in the past few years. This has meant less money to balance the books, and where many companies gave up on the niche work, the FSS continued to deliver the work at a loss.

What is the state of, and prospects for, the forensics market in the UK, specifically whether the private sector can carry out the work currently done by the Forensic Science Service and the volume and nature of the forensic work carried out by police forces?

10. There is no real market in the UK and there never has been. You cannot privatise a service, much like you would not privatise the police. You cannot put a value on the criminal justice system. No country in the world has privatised its forensic, and works on a more successful model whereby private sector companies can help pick up any back logs and can be used for defence work.

11. Two of the major forensic companies in the market have either been close to pulling the plug on their forensic division or going into insolvency. With this sort of "market", it could lead to old style back logs as companies go out of business and also force these companies to cherry pick even more.

12. The FSS has around 60% of the market in the UK. The other companies have taken FSS share over a 4-5 year period, and in this period they have only managed to pick up 40% of what was a controlled situation. How can these companies pick up 60% of the market in just over a year? Its not a simple case of moving production facilities, we are talking about setting up validated laboratories, moving staff and putting controls in place to ensure quality does not suffer.

What are the alternatives to winding-down the Forensic Science Service?

13. Allow the FSS to complete its transformation process, closing all but two sites. After this point ensure the FSS closes at least one further site, which would still leave coverage in the North, Midlands and South of England. Reducing large quantities of the support business such as HR, IT etc would reduce the cost to process a sample and allow the FSS to continue to invest in R&D.

14. Certain services should not be put out to tender. The FSS should continue to be subsidised by the government for areas of work that cannot make a profit, and will always make a loss such as fire investigation etc. The rest of the FSS could then be free to compete on a level playing field with the other companies.

15. Ensure police forces do not continue with their in sourcing plans. This would improve impartiality in the criminal justice system and also increase the available work that everyone could tender for.

So far as they are known, are the arrangements for closing down the Forensic Science Service, making staff redundant and selling its assets adequate?

16. Details are still very sketchy on what will happen to both staff and the company assets. To set a closure date without a plan for such an important business is crazy at best. How can you control the distribution of talent and work without a well thought out plan more than a year ahead of expected closure.

17. One can only imagine a version of a fire sale will occur to ensure timelines are met. The longer things continue without a structured plan, the more staff will leave the forensic sector and the greater the loss will be felt in coming years. Certain units within the FSS are starting to feel the effects of staff leaving, and its surely just a matter of time before the FSS will fail to deliver the current work load.

18. You cannot put a value on the assets within the FSS. Years have been spent developing software, techniques and training staff. Any value received for these assets will not give the tax payer value for money or encourage those staff remaining that forensics is the career path they once fought for.

Declaration of interests:

19. I, John Haley, am a forensic scientist, working for The Forensic Science Service Birmingham (Trident Court laboratory) since 2001. The views expressed in this document are of the individual and do not represent the views of the Forensic Science Service.

John Haley

31 January 2011