REGULATORY MUDDLE

Forensic services have suffered from a serious deficit of high-level leadership and oversight, the House of Lords science and technology committee has found. The committee says budget cuts and the exponential growth in the need for new services have put providers under extreme pressure with the risk that many of them will soon go out of business. There is no consistency in the way forensic services are commissioned and 'structural and regulatory muddle exacerbates the malaise'. The committee states that this situation along with cuts to legal aid hampers access to justice for defendants. 1 May 2019

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