Executive Summary

On the 3rd April the new Scene Tasking Unit was launched and work is ongoing with the team to begin to realise the benefits this will deliver moving into the new way of working.  This new unit will nationally manage the deployment of scene examiners in a consistent and effective way across the country.

On the 3^rd April the first phase of the DNA centralisation project, rationalising DNA processing labs from four to two sites also went live. The Edinburgh laboratory now submit their DNA analysis to the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh. A post implementation review will be undertaken ahead of further phases of change to assess the success of the new process.

Forensic Services have seen an increase in demand from Q3 to Q4. This is notable in Biology, Volume Crime Unit, and Firearms and to a lesser extent in Imaging and Drugs.

The focus on reducing the age of cases across Forensic Services has been successful during Q4 with the exception of MEL and Volume crime.  With the exception of Toxicology, every unit in on track to meet the KPIs set for the financial year. This means Forensic Services is a strong performance position as we bring in changes to deliver the New Operating Model.

Both Biology and Toxicology continue to see an increase in demand particularly in Group 2 crime (sexual offences and crimes of indecency) and Group 7 (traffic offences). While output in Biology is within demand levels, it has not been possible to reduce the backlog significantly.

There have been some resilience issues with the relatively small number - 15 people – in Chemistry, primarily due to an increased number of fire investigation cases and scene attendances by scientists.

Criminal Toxicology continues to be supported by Biology, Chemistry, Drugs and Business Support to increase staff resilience in this area. Additional recruitment is ongoing to backfill and increase staff numbers. The UKAS visit to Toxicology on the 27^th March went exceptionally well with only 5 actions raised.  Outsourcing of Toxicology cases continues and the performance of the external forensic provider is being monitored closely.

Within Scene Examination cross-divisional working remains high, with the scenes attended outside of base division increasing by 4% to 40% of scenes (579 of 1463 scenes). This is mainly in the East and West sites as only 2% of cross divisional work occurs in the North (7 of 307 scenes in March).

Our new Post Mortem Toxicology service continues to work closely with COPFS to complete cases to agreed timescales. The team continues to outsource cases to ensure smooth transition and to facilitate validation and method development activity.

Forensic Services absence rate is lower than last year with a decrease from Q3 to Q4 (6.13% and 5.8% respectively).  Psychological absence has increased across Forensic Services from Q3 to Q4. The procurement phase of the psychological supervision project is complete with initial meetings scheduled to discuss communications and engagement and to identify priority candidate groups.

The launch of the Performance Framework, including a refresh of the KPIs, will result in a new format for future reports.

In summary, Forensic Services ends the performance year in the strongest position for many years and well-placed to drive forward the implementation of our New Operating Model.