Home Office's DNA labs criticised

The FSS runs hundreds of thousands of DNA tests each year

MPs have warned that criminals could be going free because of inefficiency at the Home Office forensics agency.

A Committee of Public Accounts report calls performance at the Forensic Science Service, which provides police DNA testing, "disappointing".

Although DNA analysis takes only 36 hours, police have been kept waiting up to a fortnight for test results.

In some cases, that could lead to suspects being wrongly released for lack of evidence, the report says.

"If forensic analysis is delayed... suspects may have to be bailed or re-bailed; the police may not pursue other lines of enquiry while waiting for forensic analysis eliminating a suspect; [and] in extreme circumstances, charges may be dropped," the report says.

The report calls for more automation, better training, and better communication to ensure standards improve.

Work to be done

The FSS argued that it had made significant cuts in processing times in the past year.

But chief executive Dr Dave Werrett admitted: "We recognise that there is still much work to be done."

The Committee's report also sounds a note of caution about Home Office proposals to open the FSS to public-private partnership.

"The Home Office should obtain clear and robust analysis of the merits of different options, including the financial costs and benefits," the report says.

Fingerprints

"In the event of public-private partnership status, the Home Office should specify how it will manage risks emanating from the separation of the forensic science service from the rest of the criminal justice system."

And the report notes that part-privatising the agency might raise special concerns about the integrity of the National DNA Database, which contains the DNA "fingerprints" of over 2 million people.

The report calls for "adequate safeguards" to protect against "risks to the database including improper use of the data, for example for commercial purposes".