Forensic Access Newsletter - "Benchmark"
July 2008
The Forensic Science Regulator
Mr Andrew Rennison describes his important new role
 The post of Forensic Science Regulator, supported by the Forensic Science Advisory Council (FSAC), is new; I have been in post since early February with the FSAC in existence about 6 months before that. Why do we need a Regulator and what is my purpose, and that of the FSAC? Essentially my role is to set and monitor standards for the delivery of forensic science to the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales. Authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland have seen the benefit of this and have agreed to work with me. The role comes with no statutory backing. Forensic science standards are generally very high but operate without any coherent framework or strategic oversight. This is particularly an issue now that the forensic market is opening up to competition and is no longer provided by a monopoly supplier, the Forensic Science Service, who used to be the guardians of standards. The FSAC is made up of a broad range of experienced people who are there to advise me, which they do very well.
Standards can be broken down into three levels: the supplier, the practitioner and the product or method. I propose to produce standards and guidance at each of these levels, while recognising that they do interlink. I will shortly be publishing, for public consultation, a manual of regulation that sets out how I intend to achieve my objectives. In order to achieve what I am setting out to do it is vital that I engage with stakeholders across the full spectrum of forensic activity, including the many independent small firms and practitioners. I use the term ‘independent’ to mean those that operate independently from the organisations that support the investigation and prosecution efforts. I think that standards apply across the board and I am keen to set up better mechanisms to hear the views of the independent sector. I have asked Forensic Access to help me in this.
The term ‘forensic science’ covers a wide range of activity. I will set out in my manual of regulation the boundaries I plan to set around this in order to manage the process. The boundaries will expand as my work develops. I recognise that no one person, especially me, can attempt to understand all the scientific and technical issues involved in effective forensic work. I therefore intend to manage most of the work to design new standards through teams of experts brought in from across the whole range of suppliers, users and disciplines. As standards are developed I will publish them for public consultation through which I will be able to listen to the widest possible range of views and to reach, with advice from the FSAC, an objective outcome.
I also propose to take a risk-based approach to setting standards. One of my first pieces of work is to build a risk model and process to help me identify and prioritise risks of quality failings. It makes absolute sense to focus my limited resources on the areas of highest risk.
My current business plan is published on my website. As I progress I will continue to publish regular newsletters that can be found on my website http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/forensic-science-regulator/.
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