Is the FSS really too expensive?

As the public sector culling continues, so does the Government’s seemingly smug indifference. “Our hands are tied” they shrug, yet poorly concealed smiles reveal the joy as they exert their own agenda whilst retaining the ‘it’s not our fault’ card. And yes, as a country we are not in a position to splash the cash, but one has to ask – at what cost will we be pursing this ‘financial recovery’ that is so coveted?

Despite some examples that the impact on science is to be less than thought – the closure of the Forensic Science Service seems to point to a nasty decision that is to be made on our behalf – scientifically and legally speaking: Are we to be rich and ignorant, or poor and informed? On p28 Steve Thomas of the scientist’s union Prospect points out why the ‘evidence’ used to help make this decision is just not there.

At the tail end of last year it was announced that the FSS loses around £2m a month. Now, despite its rather dubious status as a GovCo, surely a better way of looking at this is that it costs us as a country £2m a month to have a robust forensics service. Is this really a cost more than we can bear? £70,000 a day is not to be sniffed at – but it seems to represent good value if what we get in return is one of the most envied forensics capabilities in the world. To put it in context the UK police force has spent £132 million on rental cars in the last five years. That averages more than £70,000 a day.

Some in the sector suggest that a more open market with healthy competition will be a good thing – but is ‘competition’ really a reliable driving force? Of course we need a forensics service – in whatever form it takes – to continue to perform and develop at its optimum, but competition, at least in the eyes of the current government, means a cheaper service.

Commercial providers have been quick to say that there will be no negative impacts on the service provided – it doesn’t take a cynic to suggest that of course they are going to say that – it is they who stand to benefit. I don’t want to overplay this angle however – for I am sure that forensic scientists in the private sector have exactly the same motivation to support the criminal justice system and the victims of crime as those in the public sector. However, this balance of commercial success and quality will undoubtedly play its part in the new world order of UK forensics.

Yet I am left wondering, even if the FSS represented a monopoly service – something so effective and established it renders lesser competitors defunct – is it really such a bad thing? Maybe towering expertise, experience and resource is exactly the kind of operation we’d want for a service that has such an impact on Justice?