FOI release: FOI-0018: redacted response

Office of the Forensic Science Regulator
c/o Home Office Science
23 Stephenson Street
Birmingham
B2 4BJ

Thank you for your e-mail of 16 October 2023, in which you ask for the following:

Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am now able to provide a full reply to your request.

Regarding point 1, I can disclose the following information:

The primary legislation that governs regulation in Forensic Science including the recovering and processing of CCTV is:

The Regulator has published a Code of Practice  (Statutory Code: Forensic science activities: statutory code of practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) which sets out the requirements for forensic science activities. Guidance documents in support of regulation can be found at:

The Code applies to all those undertaking Forensic Science Activities (FSAs) as described in the Code. These can be small teams in larger organisations, sole practitioners or large providers, police officers or police staff and can be commissioned by the prosecution or the defence.

The recovery and preservation of still and moving images from digital closed-circuit television (CCTV), video surveillance systems (VSS) and related digital media/systems is defined in the Code as FSA DIG 300 – Recovery and processing of footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV)/video surveillance systems (VSS).

The requirements for compliance are described in the Code including the acting in accordance with the NPCC’s Framework for Video Based Evidence as an option. Forensic Science Regulator: Code of Practice (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)