Forensic Services

The Authority is also responsible for the provision of a unique, public and independent crime scene-to-court Forensic Service to policing, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal’s Service and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner. The Authority’s Forensic Services are being delivered at a cost of £44 million in the current 2024/25 financial year. This represents 3.2% of overall policing budget and while work remains ongoing, we don’t expect this percentage to significantly change in the year ahead. Over the last three years, Forensic Services has revised its operating model to develop a more flexible and sustainable service which can flex to meet continually changing demands.

However, the prevalence of drug driving in Scotland is a significant concern for policing and has far exceeded predictions when the legislation was introduced. This has had a considerable impact on the demand for drug driving toxicology services.

In recognition of the increased prevalence, the Scottish Government has provided an additional £2.2m to Forensic Services to support increased capacity to address demand, including the outsourcing of toxicology services.

Forensic Services and Police Scotland have been working to develop options for a long-term sustainable model that can meet this demand in the future. While options are still being fully explored and costed, we expect this to require circa £4-£5m additional revenue funding per year and approximately £10m one off capital funding. The costs and mix of revenue/capital funding will depend on the model adopted and the Authority expects this work to inform the 2026/27 budget and beyond.