Drug Driving Case Ageing

As stated in the FS Q4 Performance Report, the reporting age of Section 5A cases continues to reduce from Summer 2022, in line with the Toxicology Development Plan and Outsourcing Plan (7.0 months in March 2023).  All in-house drug driving cases with a pre-2023 incident date are expected to be completed by end April 2023.  Thereafter, a continued decline in case ageing is expected to track with the 3 month target.    A downward trend in case ageing is also seen with Section 4 cases, although the rate of decline (i.e. improvement) is slower due to the additional complexity of Section 4 cases (8.4 months in March 2023).

In-house output through Q1 and Q2 of 2023/24 is expected to be relatively low, as staff are abstracted for equipment validation, method development and training.  This is in line with the Toxicology Development Plan with the Outsourcing Plan being used to mitigate the capacity gap.

The number, and subsequently reported age, of completed outsourced cases is tracking slightly behind plan following relatively unforeseen capacity issues with the contracted supplier (average age of 7.6 months in March 2023).   A recovery plan is in place, which is forecast to see a significantly improved position by Q2 2023/24 and the supplier has confirmed their commitment to ensure that no cases will fail to meet statutory time limit, as a result of delays in testing.