Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that forensic scientists are able to maintain their skill level over time.

The Forensic Science Regulator code of practice, currently before Parliament, sets out the standards required for conducting forensic science activities. Achieving and maintaining the appropriate accreditation for those activities, requires a competence assessment for all staff, which will help ensure that forensic scientists continue to operate at the levels required by the code.

The Forensic Science Regulator ensures that the provision of forensic science services across the criminal justice system is subject to an appropriate regime of scientific quality standards. The Regulator is a public appointee and operates independently of the Home Office, on behalf of the criminal justice system as a whole.