This seems like a big deal, to you, but really, it isn't.
That it is a longitudinal study means it's an even 'smaller' deal. Why? Well, because you've got months of data before the delay and months of data to come after the delay and your statistical analysis of your results will take care of the rest and fill the gap. If you don't know how to do this then you ask around and pick up the phone to someone who does. I spend all my time assessing longitudinal follow-ups and if you think that the follow ups all occur as intended then you are a dreamer!

Besides, have a some perspective - it's a PhD, not an intended Nobel prize. If the machine breaks down it's not your fault and as long as you show you did everything else correct then really, what's the problem? You just need to show you are competent and having a dodgy machine is no reflection on you. It's not worth losing sleep over.

The artistic decisions may not even be yours to make. Check the guidelines for formatting the thesis on the admin pages of your Institution. For instance, at my University they state that the very first page is 1 and and all others are to be numbered 2,3,4 onwards.

I used to work for the FSS years ago - I know full well about the derisory pay and frankly disgusting attitudes to their staff, well done for getting out and to the US. It sounds like you were at LGC? Well, the idea of analysing existing data certainly would solve a lot of your issues, and could be done remotely with only a few supervision meetings along the way. Secondary data analysis is not as unexciting as it sounds. It did it for my PhD, in epidemiology. It's easy to be creative with what you have to work with.

If you still have contacts with the FSS then using the NDNADB to do statistical analysis would be quite interesting as it's getting to be quite sizeable these days. You'd never need step into a lab.

There must be literary topics on the use of DNA the legal system etc... it doesn't have to be about the technology. It can be review of what has happened and what direction it needs to go in next - on a moral/legal point of view, rather than from your tech backgroud. Your MSc must have provided a broad background in other forensic disciplines - how about re-visiting them for ideas?

Have a look through the forensic science academic journals and see what the hot topics are these days.

You talk about "finding" a PhD and how difficult it is. Well, it's your PhD, so how about having an idea, finding an appropriate suppervisor, write the proposal, submit to a funding research council and there you have it - your own PhD, and one where you are not a glorified research assistant because you devised it. You are at an advanatge in applying for these as you already have an MSc and don;t need to apply for the 1+3 awards. Just go straight in at +3 and your experiences sound like you'll be an outstanding candidate.

You can do this with a pen and paper, believe it or not.
-Draw a 2x2 table.
-along the top two columns, label these need- yes; need- no (need being your "exposure"
-down the side label two rows, response made - yes; response made - no (where needs met is your outcome)
-Fill out the boxes with your appropriate observations
-calculate the odds of a response when there is a need, and divide by the odds of a response when there is no need
These easiest way is to label your cells a, b, c, d: where top left is a, top right is b, bottom left is c and bottom right is d.

and perform (a/c)/(b/d)
This number gives you the odds of a response in the needy group, compared to the odds of a response in a non-needy group.

With generalisations made on samples of one I suggest you don't transfer your award to a stats or epidemiology course as they're clearly not your cup of tea. Judging from the tone of your rant maybe it's grow up a bit too.

Yes! Include a cover letter most definitely.

Assuming the cv is fairly lightweight because of age and hence lack of experience I would say a well written cover letter is as equally important as your cv.

Apart from the extra information you can convey in it, it looks so much more professional and shows that you know what are doing. I cringe when I think of some of the cover letters I used to write before I learnt the value of them.

However, another set of awards put out a call around February time each year, with March or May deadlines. Keep checking council websites at this time of year. In this case it is best that you co-write a proposal with an intended supervisor (more like get a supervisor to write the proposal). These are quite hard forms to fill out on your own, require lots of (personal) references and backup literature, but as such they generally renumerate better than standard studentships dished out on a quota basis described above.

The majority of research council funding (MRC, BBSRC, ESRC to name a few of the major ones) distribute their funds direct to the Universities who have applied for their studentships. It is then up to the selected University to find the right candidate for the studentship. This effectively means you have no reason to approach the research council for funding, but instead approach those Universities which hold a number of studentships in the department relevant to your interests. Whether the department has a specific project in mind is another matter, but in most cases titles are sufficiently broad to tailor whatever topic to your needs and strengths whilst satisfying the research council at the same time. And whatever project you start on no decent supervisor will ever expect it remain on exactly the same track on which it started.