Further Detail

Budget - The financial report for quarter two highlights an underspend position of £0.4M at the end of the quarter which is driven by lower pay costs. The forecast position remains break even by year end for the revenue budget. Capital spending is on track and forecast to deliver on budget by year end. Discussions continue regarding the budget setting for next financial year (2026/27) for revenue, capital, and reform funding.

Drug Driving – Good progress has been made since the last committee on the resourcing of the Long-Term Sustainable Model (LTSM) for Criminal Toxicology with commitment secured for Police Scotland Estates support in the development of the Full Business Case (FBC). Demand for drug driving toxicology analysis continues to track higher than expected which is a pressure on the Forensic Services revenue budget. This pressure is currently offset by the lower than expected spend on staff costs.

The pressure caused by the additional outsourcing is adding to several other pressures on the Forensic Services budget which include investment in additional Health and Safety training and the work on the staff survey action plan. It is also diverting activity away from other areas of Forensic Services that would benefit from further investment such as volume crime DNA analysis. In addition, it is adding risk to financial decision making on recruitment which is contributing to the workforce tracking below the budgeted establishment.

Forensic Service Annual Review 2024/25 – The annual review of activity undertaken last year was published on the 19th of September, this report covers a range of subjects including the Scottish Parliament reception, Delivery of Corporate Parenting plan, Launch of Drug Driving MOU, Shetland Drug Driving Pilot, Conferences, and much more. A copy of this review is included at Appendix A.

Strategic Workforce Plan – Forensic Services has been working with Skills for Justice to develop the strategic workforce plan for the organisation. The purpose of strategic workforce planning is to ensure that Forensic Services has the employees, skills, and knowledge to meet current and future demands. A comprehensive approach has been taken to develop the plan, and it is presented in four pillars, workforce planning and skills mix, education and training, recruitment and training and workforce culture and capability.

Having this strategic workforce plan is a key milestone which will allow Forensic Services to make more considered and impactful decisions on the size and shape of the workforce over the next five years. As data improves the approach will also be refined, providing greater granularity and a more systematic approach to demand forecasting. Once the analysis of the document has been completed and priority actions identified the full document will be provided to the public session of the FS Committee.

Research, Development and Innovation Strategy – Following considerable work and stakeholder engagement it is great to be able to present the first Forensic Services RD&I strategy to the committee today. This is an important document that sets out our approach to this critical area, in line with the Forensic Services strategic outcome that ‘We deliver high-quality and ethical services through innovative forensic science.’

The strategy sets out the importance of collaboration with academic research and public sector partners to ensure effective working across forensic and academic networks, ensuring we promote the value that Forensic Services deliver for the people of Scotland.

Staff Survey Working Group – The staff survey working group has continued to meet to discuss activity that will be progressed on the back of the feedback received from our people in the 2024 survey. This will be combined with the feedback from the 2025 survey which has just recently closed and launched prior to Christmas so that progress is made on the most impactful areas at pace. A full report into the plan will be provided to the next Forensic Services Committee which will also include the organisational approach to improving the culture across all parts of the organisation.

Health and Safety Improvement – The Forensic Services Health and Safety Business Plan has been updated for presentation to the next Health and Safety Committee meeting in early November. This plan includes the improvement work which has been identified following internal and external review of our management arrangements. Notably, a recent external review by Viridis highlighted a need to make significant improvements to our Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) documentation to ensure it is robust, accessible, and compliant to legislative requirements.

Work is also ongoing with colleagues in Police Scotland Estates to troubleshoot issues with the recent implementation of Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) into the laboratory in the Scottish Crime Campus. This has also identified a need for further documentation and control in relation to air ventilation across the whole Forensic Services estate.

Apprentices join Forensic Services – In August Forensic Services were delighted to be joined by our first two Forensic Support Apprentices in the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh and the Rushton Court laboratory in Dundee. Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland are a form of on-the-job training that combines paid employment with the opportunity to gain an industry-recognised qualification. They allow individuals to consolidate academic learning from a formal training provider with the practical application of the leaning in the workplace environment. This is the start of a programme to develop an apprenticeship pathway into forensic science in Scotland in line with the implementation of the new Operating Model and strategic objectives.

Leadership Development Day – In September, much of the Forensic Services leadership team met at the Scottish Police College for a development day focussed on workplace culture and feedback provided from our people through recent surveys. The agenda covered a range of areas including strategy, leadership, management, empowerment, and accountability all in the context of the feedback from our teams. DCC Smith also delivered a presentation on the Police Scotland 2030 vision and three-year plan. This is the start of a series of discussions that will embed the new management and leadership structure implemented into the new operating model and drive forward the change in organisational culture to deliver a more positive working environment.

Forensic Excellence Awards – On 19th September, the annual Forensic Excellence Awards were held in Stirling. This event recognised some of the excellent work undertaken in Forensic Services over the previous twelve months. A summary of the award winners is included below.

• The Service Improvement Award was won by Richard Vallance for his work on supporting numerous large scale Police Scotland operations including most recently Operation Portaledge.
• The Nitazene Stability Project team won the Science and Innovation Award. Their work has made significant recommendations to improve the detection of nitazenes in toxicology testing from fatalities.
• The Outstanding Contribution Award was won by Adam Russell who is part of the Police Scotland Health and Safety Team. Adam has been instrumental in the process of developing a positive health and safety culture in Forensic Services.
• The Wellbeing Award was won by Islay Mackechnie for her work on leading and advocating for wellbeing and green initiatives across Forensic Services.
• The Dundee Forensic Support Team won the Team of the Year Award for their approach to building the team and delivering an excellent support service to the scientific staff in Dundee.
• The Staff Member of the Year Award was won by Gail Connolly who delivered exceptional work through the year and for her role in giving testimony in Detroit for the US Department of Justice in a high-profile international drug trafficking case.
• My Director’s Award was won by Pamela Strahorn for her pioneering work to introduce apprenticeships into forensic science in Scotland.
• Finally, the Special Recognition Award was won by Catherine Boyle for her contribution to fingerprint casework over her 47 years of service.

It was an exceptional day that highlighted the excellent people that work within Forensic Science in Scotland and their work. I would like to extend my thanks to Police Scotland, the Chair of the Forensic Services Committee, the Chief Operating Officer, and Niamh NicDaeid from the Leverhulme Centre for Forensic Research for joining me on the judging panel.

Operation Greyfen – this is a case that has generated significant media attention relating to human remains recovered from Loch Lomand. Forensic Services has contributed significantly to this investigation with multiple scene examiner deployments taking place, resulting in significant amounts of examination and analysis work at our laboratories. Results provided so far to the Police Scotland investigation team have assisted in the direction of the ongoing operation, which included:
• Visual Evidence involved in the creation and continuous management of all images, over 3187 so far.
• There has been a significant amount of work undertaken by Search and Recovery teams at the scene and in the laboratory including large numbers of scene visits, urgent DNA work, urgent examinations of items and reporting of results.
• This has also involved staff working out of hours whilst on call, working out of hours whilst not on call, working on rest days (including weekends) and working on annual leave days to support the investigation as it progresses.
• The investigation continues to evolve with each passing day with continued forensic science support where and when required.

Murder of Stephen Gray – On the 11th of September 2025 Gavin Gallagher was convicted of the murder of Stephen Gray at his flat in the Govan area of Glasgow. Forensic Operations Lead and the Senior Forensic Scientist provided forensic evidence in the trial at the High Court in Glasgow. The judge Lord Mulholland, told Gavin Gallagher:
“You have been convicted of a terrible murder. You stabbed him straight through the heart - there was absolutely no possibility of that poor man surviving. Not only that, before you stabbed him, you poured boiling water laced with sugar over him. This is an appalling thing to do to another human being."

The scene of the murder had been attended by Search and Recovery scene staff with a range of examinations being undertaken in the laboratory including reports on biology, chemistry and documents, and fingerprint evidence culminating in the presentation of significant forensic evidence at the trial.

Sexual Assault at Highland Campsite - Forensic Services worked alongside Police Scotland on the recent sexual assault on an eight-year-old boy at a Highland campsite, in early August. Police Scotland officers seized well over a thousand hours of CCTV and visited almost a hundred properties on door-to-door inquiries. Due to the seriousness of the incident an urgent and effective response was required. Search and Recovery Scenes, Biology, Chemistry and Documents teams attended the scene with further laboratory work taking place.

Case assessment and Biology examinations took place at the Aberdeen Laboratory with DNA Analysis taking place at the Scottish Crime Campus. Many batches of examinations were conducted with several of the samples providing DNA matching a Person of Interest who, as a result, became a suspect in the police investigation. Police Scotland provided their positive feedback to Forensic Services, and to everyone involved who assisted in delivering these results in such a professional, dedicated and quick manner. A 44-year-old man appeared in court charged in connection with the sexual assault.