Questions have been raised about whether plans to transfer forensic crime testing out of Kent will actually save money.

As part of Kent Police's target to save £50million over four years, the force is consulting on moving scientific services from Sutton Road, Maidstone, 50 miles away to Chelmsford in Essex, with a loss of 30 jobs.

But a report by her Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found spending on fingerprint testing and DNA identifications cost nearly four times more in Essex than in Kent.

It's 2010 Valuing the Police Report, showed the amount spent per DNA identification in Kent was £1,462, while in Essex the sum was £5,728.
In Kent a fingerprint identification costs £1,400, but over the county border the figure is £3,291 – more than twice as much.

Kent already shares several functions with the Essex force, known as collaborative working.

However the report claims this collaboration “can best be described as patchy and focused not on cash savings, but primarily on improving skills and strength in depth, on services such as major drugs cases and investigating complex murders.”

Assistant chief constable Gary Beautridge, head of Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, which is responsible for the forensic service, said no decisions had been made but insisted the consultation was about saving money.

However, an officer who asked to remain anonymous said many staff had calculated they would have to spend £7,000 a year on getting to Essex, if they kept their jobs.

He added: “If this report is to be believed, Kent taxpayers will pay more under the new system.”