How do police safeguard in-house forensic science against unconscious bias? Lords Committee to Examine

On Tuesday 2 December, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will continue its follow-up inquiry into the state of forensic science in the UK. 

First the Committee will be hearing from senior members of the police service to discuss the implications of forces bringing forensic science in-house. They will also be hearing about the procurement of forensic science from BlueLight Commercial, a not-for-profit company established by the Home Office and the policing sector to work with blue-light organisations to transform commercial and procurement services.  

At 10:15 the Committee will hear from: 

• Dr Paul Gibson, Chief Constable at Lincolnshire Police, National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Forensic Portfolio Lead 

• Jayne Meir, Deputy Chief Constable at Northumbria Police, NPCC Digital Forensic Lead 

• Jo Osborne, Senior Commercial Director at BlueLight Commercial 

The second session will be examining digital forensic science and AI including the explosion in evidence that needs to be digitally analysed and the capacity of the police to handle it. It will also hear about the steps being taken to improve digital forensics capacity in the police and what more the government could do to help. 

At 11:15 the Committee will hear from: 

• Professor Sarah Morris, Cyber Security Research Group, University of 

• Southampton 

• Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Adviser at ESET Cybersecurity 

• Steve Rick, CEO at Forensic Analytics 

The public evidence session will take place from 10:15 am in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster on Tuesday 2 December 2025 and can be viewed live on parliamentlive.tv.