Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many forensic firms used by police forces in England and Wales have gained formal accreditation to carry out digital forensic science work.

It is a commercial decision for individual police forces which forensic service providers they use, and no central information has been held since 2016 when the National Forensic Framework ended.

If a forensic service provider requests it the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) assesses compliance against the Forensic Science Regulator’s Codes of Practice. The details and scope of individual forensic service providers accreditation status is listed on the UKAS website.