Executive Summary
The Teesside adult SARC provides confidential support and forensic services to people who have recently been raped or sexually assaulted.
The Forensic Science Regulator (FSR) has established a new Code of Practice. It mandates all SARCs must achieve UKAS accreditation to ISO 15189:2022. This is to ensure all SARCs operate to a consistently high standard.
Along with all other SARC sites in the country, the Cleveland SARC is working towards accreditation. Although the deadline to achieve accreditation, was 2 October 2025, no SARC has been formally accredited to ISO15189.
The service provider for Cleveland, Mountain Health Care (MHC), has been recommended for accreditation. This should be processed in early 2026.
Once accredited, each of MHC’s SARC sites will be assessed independently. The Cleveland SARC is currently scheduled for assessment in May 2026. In order to be ready for the assessment, building works must be completed to meet the physical and environmental requirements for ISO15189.
To date, the architecture plans and a specification of works has been produced to complete the required changes. A total of £28,875 has been committed to produce the design specifications for the SARC works. The cost of these works has been quoted as £265,000.
Lease renewal
The lease for the SARC building at 16 Trinity Mews, North Ormesby, runs up until March 2027. Building works need to be completed in conjunction with the renewal of the lease. This will ensure that investment in the works is sustainable and that we have surety of tenure before committing capital investment in the building works.
The landlord has given four options for renewing the lease and a business case has been presented to explore the costs, benefits, risks and timescales associated with each option. This was presented to the Police and Crime Commissioner on 5 December 2025 for consideration and this decision record sets out that decision.
This links to the Police and Crime Plan priority: Ensure the right support for victims and vulnerable people. This is achieved by ensuring that the SARC meets the requirements in the ISO15189 standard, to achieve the best quality evidence and contribute to the best possible outcomes for patients.