Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken as a result of the recommendation made in the Hutton review of forensic pathology in England and Wales, submitted to the Minister of State for Crime and Prevention in March 2015, that the User Requirements for Forensic Pathology form the basis for more formal contractual arrangements with the police.

The Home Office has consulted with both the police (through the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Homicide Working Group) and all six forensic pathology group practices over this recommendation. Following a review of current arrangements it was agreed not to implement this recommendation.