Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of shortages in the number of experts available to provide specialist evidential reports on (a) the criminal justice system and (b) conviction rates.

We recognise that expert evidence is a key element of many cases and so are taking a number of steps to ensure the availability of experts. We have increased expert witness fees (including forensic science experts) by 15% in cases where legal aid is granted on or after 30 September 2022 to help ensure that the defence have access to a high standard of forensic services. We passed legislation in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 so that remote hearings can continue to be used in criminal proceedings and are currently considering how we can support greater use of video links to secure attendance by expert witnesses.

More broadly across the criminal justice system, the Forensic Science Reform Programme, led by the Home Office, aims to improve criminal justice outcomes through the delivery of world class forensic capabilities. In this financial year (2023/24), the Government has allocated £19.6m to improving standards and capability in the provision of expert scientific evidence.