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Written question asked by Louise Haigh (Labour) on Thursday, 13 June 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 June 2019 (named day). It was answered by Nick Hurd (Conservative) on Tuesday, 18 June 2019 on behalf of the Home Office.

Fingerprints: Laboratories

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of laboratories of all types that are not in compliance with ISO 17025 for the purposes of fingerprint comparison; and how many specimens for the purposes of fingerprint comparison have been examined within laboratories not in compliance with ISO 17025 since October 2018.

Answer

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

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
264432
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Fingerprints Standards Laboratories
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk