Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has plans to modify the accreditation regime for the Forensic Science Regulator in relation to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Regulator is a public appointee, sponsored by the Home Office, but operationally independent. This independence allows the Regulator to make unbiased recommendations and decisions.

The FSR’s Codes of Practice and Conduct set out clear standards for all forms of analytical forensic science. Accreditation to the Regulator’s Codes is undertaken, at the request of organisations, by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), which is also independent of Government.