Police: Standards

(asked on 13th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces have accredited to ISO 17020 standard for crime scene investigation purposes.


Answered by
Nick Hurd Portrait
Nick Hurd
This question was answered on 18th June 2019

The Government is committed to ensuring that appropriate quality standards are met across the system and supports the Forensic Science Regulator’s call for police forces to achieve accreditation for a range of forensic techniques. However, the commissioning of forensic tests is an operational matter for the police and the Home Office does not collect information on the number of specimen examined within laboratories of any kind not in compliance with ISO 17025.

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of laboratories of all kind accredited to ISO 17020 or ISO 17025, but this information can be accessed through the website of the UK Accreditation Service: https://www.ukas.com/browse-accredited-organisations/?org_cat=2242&&parent=&&type_id=2

In her latest annual report, published on 15 March 2019, the Forensic Science Regulator set out her view of the national picture for accreditation. The report can be accessed through the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786137/FSRAnnual_Report_2018_v1.0.pdf

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