The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction, James Brokenshire, heard from the union first-hand about its fears regarding the announced closure and the failure of the UK forensic market at a meeting at the Home Office on Wednesday March 9.

On behalf of FSS members, Prospect deputy general secretary Mike Clancy, negotiations officer Steve Thomas and Branch Executive Committee representative John Page outlined concerns over the future of core government forensic activity as well as the need to ensure impartiality and public perception of impartiality within the criminal justice system.

Speaking after the event, Steve Thomas said: “We made it clear that the lack of a clear plan for closure or any understanding of how members may be affected by redundancy or the impact TUPE transfer was having on how they work needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency if the minister wanted to ensure an 'orderly transition' within the very challenging timescales.

“While the meeting was cordial, we made it clear that while Prospect believes that the GovCo model did not work, closure is not in the interests of criminal justice, research and development or the UK's capacity either. The union and our members will continue to ask questions and campaign against the plans.”

Thomas said the minister reiterated that the decision had not been made lightly and that he will consider our representations, along with other commissioned work, such as the Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry to which Prospect has submitted evidence. Read other submissions to the inquiry .