Self-referral forensic medical services - retention period for evidence: consultation
Feedback updated 22 Nov 2021
We asked
The landmark Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Act 2021 was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament on 10 December 2020 and received Royal Assent on 20 January 2021.
We published the Scottish Government consultation “Self-referral forensic medical services - retention period for evidence: consultation” which ran for 12 weeks, between 5 February and 30 April 2021.
We asked if people agreed with the Scottish Government recommendation to set the retention period for evidence collected in the course of self-referral forensic medical examinations at 26 months.
We also asked if further impact assessments should be carried out with regards to this matter.
You said
A total of 63 valid responses were received to the consultation from 30 individuals and 33 organisations. The 33 organisations who responded included health boards, victim support organisations, justice organisations, educational organisations and organisations representing specific groups/ equalities.
The key findings were:
- 50.8% (32 out of 63) of respondents agreed with the proposed 26 months retention period.
- 4.8% (3 out of 63) of respondents disagreed with 26 months and felt it should be shorter.
- 36.5% (23 out of 63) of respondents disagreed with 26 months and felt it should be longer.
- 1.6% (1 out of 3) of respondents were unsure if they supported 26 months.
- 6.3% (4 out of 63) of respondents did not answer the question.
There was no consensus both in terms of whether the retention period should be longer or shorter, or what a longer or shorter period should be.
No respondents suggested any further impact assessments were needed.
We did
Based on responses to the consultation and all the evidence gathered the Scottish Government proposes to set a retention period of 26 months under regulations, these will be subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament early in 2022.
The 26 month period aims to strike the right balance between ensuring that evidence is held for a reasonable timescale, should an individual decide to report to the police, and the practical considerations on health boards if required to retain evidence for lengthy periods of time. The retention period will be kept under review as data and further evidence emerges in the future.
We published the analysis report of responses on the Scottish Government website on 22 November 2021 https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802016246
Where consent was given to do so we have published the responses to the consultation.
Published responses
View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.
Overview
The landmark Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Act 2021 was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament on 10 December 2020 and received Royal Assent on 20 January 2021. This consultation seeks views on the appropriate retention period for evidence collected in the course of self-referral forensic medical services, to enable the FMS Act to be implemented.
The consultation will run for 12 weeks and we invite responses by Friday 30 April 2021.
Why your views matter
The FMS Act places a duty on health boards to give victims of all ages access to trauma-informed, person-centred forensic medical services and, for adults aged 16 or over, it will enable a health board to retain certain evidence where the victim is undecided about reporting to the police.
The FMS Act must be commenced by the Scottish Ministers before the statutory duties on health boards contained in the Act have legal effect. To enable this to take place, amongst other things, a retention period for evidence collected in the course of self-referral forensic medical services must be prescribed under regulations (secondary legislation) which is what this consultation concerns. The retention period will be the statutory time period for which evidence such as biological samples must be held by health boards. Based on the evidence gathered of best practice elsewhere in the UK, the CMO Taskforce has recommended to Scottish Ministers a retention period of 26 months (two years, two months). The Scottish Government is inviting your views before making a final decision.
What happens next
The consultation has now closed. All responses are being analysed and considered to enable Scottish Ministers to make a final decision on the retention period and lay draft retention period regulations for the approval of the Scottish Parliament.
Where permission has been given we will publish responses.
For further details on the FMS Act please see our webpage and twitter hashtag #EquallySafeFMS.
Interests
- Equality, Welfare and Rights
- Health and Social Care
- Law and Order
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